Okene explosion: Kogi says ‘enemies’ breeding terror cells, asks DSS to dig deeper

The Kogi state government has commended the Department of State Security (DSS) for arresting the masterminds of the December 29 explosion in Okene.

TheCable reported how an explosion rocked a community in Okene LGA of Kogi state on December 29, 2022.

The incident, which took place shortly before President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated some projects in the state, affected a mosque near the palace of Ado Ibrahim, the paramount ruler of Ebiraland.

The DSS subsequently arrested two suspected masterminds — including a commander in the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP).

Reacting on Thursday, Kingsley Fanwo, the commissioner for information, thanked the security agency for “the promptness of action and results achieved”.

“The arrest of the principal characters has justified our position that enemies of the state are again breeding terror cells that [have] been crushed by the indomitable security architecture of the present administration,” he said.

“If not for the master class security architecture of this government, the state would have been turned into a terror zone by its enemies.

“We hereby call on the DSS and other security agencies to prudently dig deeper into the matter to unravel the real intent of the attackers and proffer how to avert future reoccurrence.”

The commissioner said under the leadership of Governor Yahaya Bello, the state has built a security architecture to deal with all forms of crimes and criminality.

He added that “criminals and their sponsors would have no hiding place” in the state.

“If the criminals come in their numbers, they will return in their zeros because Kogi as a state will remain inhabitable for cowards masquerading as criminals,” he said.

He called on politicians to discourage their supporters from causing trouble as the government will not tolerate a breach of the peace.