The Kogi State Government has confirmed that Kachala Batijo, a suspected bandit leader, was killed. He is accused of planning the recent attack on Government Secondary School (GSS) in Iluke, located in the Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area.
Kingsley Fanwo, the Commissioner for Information and Communications, shared this news during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday.
He explained that Mr Batijo was among several criminals killed in a coordinated security operation that involved multiple security agencies.
Mr Fanwo said intelligence reports had earlier pointed to Mr Batijo as the leader of a group planning attacks on schools in Kogi State. This led the authorities to take preventive steps, such as temporarily closing schools in vulnerable areas.
“It’s a process that took a very long time. Initially, we got intelligence that he wanted to attack our schools in Kogi State. And while we were working on getting him, we shut down our schools for more than three weeks,” he said.
“It was painful, but they were unable to take our children away from the schools.” Mr Fanwo added that security agencies also had information about the group targeting students taking the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) at GSS Iluke.
To protect the students, the state government moved students from remote schools to Iluke town while security operatives kept an eye on the suspected attackers.
PREMIUM TIMES had reported earlier that the Kogi State Government put several security measures in place in parts of Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area due to ongoing attacks by armed groups.
On June 13, the government banned commercial motorcycle operations in some Bunu hinterland communities, limited the sale of fuel in jerrycans, closed certain markets, and restricted travel on state-owned roads after 7 p.m. These actions aimed to disrupt the logistics of criminal groups.
These restrictions came after an attack on Iluke community, where armed men reportedly invaded and tried to attack the secondary school. According to Mr Fanwo, around 100 armed men on about 40 motorcycles took part in that operation.
“On June 10, he struck. He went to Iluke with this very large number of people. About 40 motorcycles were used to carry about 100 terrorists to that place,” he said.
“They attacked a few places, including attempting to take away the students from the school, and it was foiled. They could not take a single student away from the school.”
He praised local vigilantes, the military, police, Department of State Services (DSS), and other security agencies for stopping the abduction of students.
The commissioner said the operation that followed led to the death of Mr Batijo and several members of his group.
“We were able to neutralise Batijo and a good number of terrorists who carried out that operation,” he said.
“As I speak, more than 15 to 20 bodies have been found of the terrorists.” Mr Fanwo also mentioned that security operatives recently conducted an operation at the site where Mr Batijo was reportedly buried by surviving members of his group.
He said more suspects were killed during that operation.
“We are very confident that he’s the one, but we will still subject that to science to confirm,” he said.
PREMIUM TIMES recently reported a surge of insecurity in parts of Kogi State, especially in Kabba/Bunu and Yagba West local government areas.
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