Ex-convict who had been pardoned killed for burning politician to death in Kogi.

A renowned felon named Kabir Bala was put to death by the Joint Security Team in Kogi State in connection with the passing of Salome Abu, the female leader of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the state’s commissioner of police, Akeem Yusuf, revealed that on Wednesday, Bala met his demise in Ejule in the state’s Ofu Local Government Area.

He said, “It would be recalled that the Kogi State Government, in October 2018, granted pardon in the prerogative of mercy as part of rehabilitation to one notorious gang leader named Kabir Bala, aka Okwo, in Ejule, Ofu LGA.

“However, the said Kabir Bala remained an unrepentant criminal with lots of atrocities traced to him which includes dealing in illegal arms, kidnappings and killings in the state.

“Several cases had been traced to him such as the burning alive of Mrs Salome Abu, a PDP woman leader in Olu LGA, in her residence on November 2015, at Ochadamu, and the killing of two gala youths, Umoru Abeh and Unerwu Sule on April 20, 2022, at Ejule.”

According to Yusuf, Bala also murdered two men named Muhammad and Dauda on March 3, 2023, as well as the Fulani herders Ibrahim, Haruna, and Shuaibu Wang on Alloma Road in the Ofu LGA in April 2022.

He said, “Other crimes committed by Kabir Bala and his gang included an attack on troops of the Nigerian Navy and dispossessing them of four rifles at the Alloma village on March 4, 2022. However, the firearms were later returned to the Navy following a high-powered intervention.

“Attack on Elisha Aya, a pastor and founder of the Kingdom Faith Assembly, Ejule, on March 18, 2022, who later paid N1m to Bala as a levy for establishing a church; invasion of Egane Fulani settlement; burning of 213 huts; rustled 122 cows on December 25, 2022, and assault on the Lord’s Chosen Church, Ejule, on January 29, 2023, for disturbing his hotel with their service, during which a worshipper, Joy Abuh, sustained a gunshot injury on her left hand.”

According to the police commander, Bala also carried out seven kidnappings along the Itobe-Anyigba Highway between May 5 and May 28, 2023.

According to him, the state security council’s resolution from its meeting on June 20, 2023, to revoke Bala’s state pardon from 2018 and order his immediate arrest for trial alongside known accomplices, should be put into effect.

He added, “Joint operations should be set up comprising the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Police, DSS, and Civil Defence, to go after Kabir Bala and his gang to arrest them and recover the arms in their possession.

“Today, June 22, 2023, around 04.30am in pursuit of Kabir Bala and his gang members, on sighting the joint security team, opened fire on them and started shooting sporadically.

“The team engaged the hoodlums and Kabir Bala was neutralised in the process while other members of his gang escaped with varying degrees of injury.”

He claimed that among the things taken from his property were an AK-47 rifle with three fully filled magazines, six locally made weapons, two phones, and charms.

He stated that the fight against illicit activity would continue in order to protect people and property in the state.