Senate lays blame Bank robbery in Otukpo due to incompetence

Patrick Abba Moro, the senator for the Benue South Senatorial District, has accused the security authorities in Benue State of lacking intelligence in the fatal bank robbery that occurred in Otukpo over the weekend.

The daredevil robbers are said to have slain John Adikwu, the Otukpo Divisional Police Officer, three other police officers, and four civilians on Saturday, October 20, both inside and outside the bank site.

In an interview with media following the Senate floor, Senator Moro questioned how many armed robbers in a convoy of cars and motorcycles could have entered the town and fled for approximately an hour in the absence of intelligence and counterattacks from security personnel. The motion was titled “Otukpo Robbery Attack: Urgent Need for Investigation and Intervention.”

“We have multiple security checkpoints; the police, the Federal Roads Safety Corps, the Department of State Services, and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps have all joined the roadblock thing,” he stated. The fact that two Hilux cars carrying sixty armed men were en route to invade Otukpo escaped all of them. Where is the wisdom these days? None of the agencies was able to mobilize a counterattack when the attack occurred.

He clarified that his initial opposition to the call for the creation of state police was based on the fact that most states at the 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 in response to a reporter’s question about the significance of state police for community policing.

Senator Moro said earlier, during the motion’s presentation, that the suspected armed robbers held the entire town hostage for more than an hour with little to no opposition.

He bemoaned, “Thousands of naira were carted away from the banks and arms and ammunition from the police command in addition to the bloodletting.”

The Nigeria Police and other pertinent security agencies were requested by the Senate in its resolutions to look into the circumstances surrounding the invasion and the murders of innocent persons very away.

It also exhorted the security services to solve the puzzle of why there was a deficiency in information and awareness on the day of the invasion.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was also encouraged by the Red Chamber to act quickly to supply relief supplies for the Otukpo Police Command’s rehabilitation.