Three officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) were killed by unknown gunmen in Kogi state last Friday. According to reports, the incident occurred when six officers of the agency were on duty at one of their post around the main gate of the Federal College of Education (FCE) Okene where Onwumere Nicholas, Peter Ebun and Abdulrahman Musa lost their lives.According to reports, the gunmen ran away with two rifles belonging to the deceased officers.

Mr Tunde Ipinmisho, a relative of the deceased Ebun Peter, took to Facebook to mourn the loss and also lament the alarming state of insecurity in Kogi.

When Will the Days of Evil End in Kogi State?

Three officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on routine patrol to rid the state of illicit drugs and psychotropic substances, were on Friday night ambushed and shot dead in Okene, Kogi State. They did nothing wrong other than carry out the commitment they signed to when they took up their jobs, to use the instrumentality of their office to help make Nigeria a better country.

The tragic incident has further reinforced the not too far fetched belief in many quarters that Kogi State is today the most dangerous territory to visit or travel through.

One of those killed is Sunday Olumayowa Ebun Peters, my 41 year old first cousin ( her mother is my mum’s immediate elder sister).

Sunday’s mother who is in her 80s has remained inconsolable since elders of our community summoned the courage to break the unsavoury news to her.

His death has also cast a pall on the community as folks recall the various roles he took on in his life. He was a photographer, hunter, choirmaster of the local Catholic Church and a frontline role player in community affairs.

As usual, the law enforcement agencies in Kogi State have announced that they are on top of the matter. We know better.

There is a more fundamental problem in Kogi State. There is no government in place that could genuinely be called by that name and there is no governance of any sort.

When you put the unprepared in power, the fabric of state suffers abysmal decay.

Tomorrow, we will let Sunday down into the grave and will leave him there to bear our loss. However, the question would still need to be answered as to when it would be safe again for decent, law abiding citizens of Nigeria to visit Kogi State without nursing fears about what fate awaited them in the hands of kidnappers, gunmen, hoodlums (in and out of government) and ritualists and contract killers. Those should ordinarily be in a position to answer the question are too drunk with graft to bother.

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