The senator representing Benue South Senatorial District, Patrick Aba Moro, has blamed the deadly bank robbery attack in Otukpo over the weekend on a lack of intelligence by the security agencies in Benue State.
The Otukpo Divisional Police Officer, John Adikwe, and three other policemen, as well as four civilians, were reportedly killed, within and outside the bank premises, by the daredevil robbers on Saturday, October 20.
Speaking with journalists after sponsoring a motion titled “Otukpo Robbery Attack: Urgent Need for Investigation and Intervention” on the floor of the Senate, Senator Moro wondered how many armed robbers in a convoy of vehicles and motorcycles could have entered the town and operated for about an hour without intelligence and counterattacks from security operatives.
He said: “We have several security checkpoints; there is the police, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps have joined the roadblock thing, we also have the road safety (Federal Roads Safety Corps) and the Department of State Services, all of them. None of them got a hint that 60 armed men in two Hilux vehicles were coming to invade Otukpo. Where is the intelligence? When the attack happened, none of the agencies could reach out to mobilise a counterattack.”
Answering a reporter’s question on the importance of state police for community policing, he explained that his initial opposition to the call for the creation of state police was based on the fact that most states at that time were unable to pay workers salaries and meet the basic needs of the people and that an additional police wage bill could have overburdened the state governments.
Earlier, while presenting the motion, Senator Moro said the suspected armed robbers operated for over an hour with little or no resistance, holding the entire town hostage.
“In addition to the bloodletting, millions of naira were carted away from the banks and arms and ammunition from the police command,” he lamented.
The Senate, in its resolutions, urged the Nigeria Police and other relevant security agencies to immediately investigate the circumstances surrounding the invasion and the deaths of innocent citizens.
It further urged the security agencies to unravel the mystery of the lack of intelligence and alertness on the day of the invasion.
The Red Chamber also urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to, as a matter of urgency, move in to provide relief materials for the rehabilitation of the Otukpo Police Command.
