By Ezra Ukanwa, Abuja

AS the 2023 Kogi State gubernatorial election draws nigh, politicians and their supporters have been cautioned against making statements that will cause civil unrest in the state.

Kogi youths, under the aegis of Kogi Youth Leaders’ Forum, led by Comrade Richard Leke, made the call during a press briefing, Tuesday, in Abuja.

Leke, while reading the open petition written by the Forum for the arrest of instigators of violence in the state, said that it has become imperative to intervene following careless utterances of some unpatriotic persons in the state.

He said: “Some of them have turned their social media handles to a platform for hate speeches and campaign of calumny that can instigate the people into a mob action that may prove extremely difficult to manage and lead to needless loss of lives and properties.

“We are also aware of the sponsored protest to the Defence Headquarters in Abuja today with the sole purpose of blackmailing the military and other security agencies from performing their legitimate constitutional duties in Kogi State.

“That protest was sponsored by people who have something to hide and are behind violent attacks in Kogi State and would, therefore, want security agencies to stay aloof without intervening to prevent violence in the state. They do not mean well for the state at all.

“Why would anyone wish to discourage security agents from doing their work if such a person does not harbour criminal intentions? It is either that or these people are not bonafide Kogi State indigenes. They cannot be. Their protest today, which was comprised of non-Kogi indigenes except, perhaps, one or two of them, is a confirmation that they’re not Kogites.”

He said a genuine Kogi indigene will never encourage violence and criminality by asking security agents to desist from decimating criminal activities in the state.

“All genuine Kogi State indigenes, both home and abroad, must rise up to condemn these merchants of disharmony pretending to be what they are not.

“We are so much concerned that because the governorship election is just five months away, some political miscreants being sponsored by instigators of violence in the state are beginning to set the stage for violence before, during, and after the election and blame it on others.

“This type of destructive politics cannot be allowed to play out in Kogi State. We’ve enjoyed near-perfect peace and harmony in the last eight years, and we do not want any group of politicians and non-politicians who know that they cannot win an election in an atmosphere of peace and stability to return Kogi State to its former state of anomie.”

He, therefore, called on the Department of State Services, DSS, to, as a matter of urgency, wade into the political affairs in Kogi State and ensure all purveyors of chaos are dealt with.