Image
September 7, 2022
The governor also threatened members of the opposition, saying he would "show" them.
A new video has shown the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, threatening that whoever trespasses in the state will never see the sun again, ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The governor also threatened members of the opposition, saying he would "show" them.
“Whoever trespasses, if we pick him or her, he will never sight the sun again. In this coming election, I’m going to show the opposition people who is Yahaya Bello. If there is white lion, if there is no white lion, we will know in this one,” Bello said in the video obtained by SaharaReporters on Wednesday.
This comes barely 24 hours after the governor was captured in a trending video threatening to harshly deal with anyone saying bad things about his administration in the state.
He also bragged that he could handle a gun better than the people he was addressing, despite not being a security agent.
“If I hear any rumour or hear anybody murmuring, even if it’s in the person’s room and I said I want to see the person and you cannot provide him, then be prepared to be the person’s substitute,” Bello who contested the ruling All Progressives Congress presidential primary was heard saying in the video.
“That’s why I’m saying it loud and clear for everyone to hear. Not just Ihima, not just about Ebira but the whole of Kogi. Because some of those people who are prepared to do evil, maybe some of them are older than me.
“You cannot hold gun more than me. For that, everyone should receive and disseminate the message. Record and play it for them that I’m ready this time around.”
Meanwhile, a top official of Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Services (DSS), told SaharaReporters that the agency had begun an investigation into the video.
“Senior intelligence officers have seen the video and it’s being investigated here at the headquarters in Abuja,” the officer had said.
In December 2019, thugs said to be loyal to Bello and the ruling APC burnt opposition Peoples Democratic Party’s women leader, Salome Abuh, to death over some scuffle during the governorship election.
In April 2021, violent youths working for the Kogi governor descended on two middle-aged protesters who were pasting Buhari-Must-Go posters in Lokoja.
The APC youths flogged the two protesters, filmed them and brutalised them before they were later handed over to policemen.
A few days later, the state government in a statement supported mob action against the youths, saying they were from Benue State.
“The Kogi State Government wishes to commend the gallant and ever vigilant youths of the state for rising to the occasion to crush the ungodly campaign by some imported and sponsored youths who came to the State to campaign against President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The sponsored youths congregated at Benue State from where they moved to Kogi State and began to paint walls as well as display anti-Buhari posters that were printed in a South-South state,” the state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Kingsley Fanwo had said.
During the APC presidential primaries in earlier this year, some of Bello’s supporters were arrested by the police after guns and ammunition were found on them.
Some of them were arrested in vehicles branded with the logo of the Kogi governor