By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Governor of Kogi State, North Central Nigeria, Yahaya Bello has been accused of being the mastermind of the fatal Owo Church massacre in Ondo State in which dozens of worshippers were killed, as well as the Kuje prison break in Abuja.
The July prison attack in Kuje saw hundreds of detainees escape from lawful custody, including suspected and convicted terrorists.
A former governorship candidate in Kogi, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has said governor Bello went around different prisons in the country releasing hardened criminals, especially those of them from his ethnic minority, Ebira.
The duo have been at a loggerheads for sometime over leadership in the state. The state governor had last week declared her wanted.
Akpoti-Uduaghan claimed one of such prisoners known as Safiyu, was allegedly used by Bello to carry out the Kuje Prison break and Owo massacre.
“I was in California because I left a day after my primary election and I only returned to Nigeria on the 20th of August.
“And at the time of these attacks (Kuje Prison and Owo massacre), Safiyu was with Yahaya Bello. He was in the Government House every day.
“He was living in the house of the Chief of Staff. So, if anybody should be held responsible for the Owo massacre and Kuje Prison break, it should be Yahaya Bello that should have questions to answer in conjunction with the Chief of Staff himself because they released him from prison for God knows what.
“I even got to know that Safiyu was on death row. I happened to know he was a hardened criminal on death row but Bello freed him just before the 2019 election. Why he was freed and the nature of his freedom is left for Yahaya Bello to explain,” she said on Arise Television’s Morning Show on Friday,
On how a governor could release a prisoner in a federal prison, Apkoti-Uduaghan, the Senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Kogi Central, said: “That’s one thing with Yahaya Bello. He knows how to get the ills done using the network.
“I’m actually surprised at how he could have such powers. He has also gone around the prisons in the country releasing hardened Ebira prisoners. People from our own tribe.
“This is why we have such a high rate of criminality in Nigeria. I got to know that a few months ago, the governor called on Safiyu again to carry out a series of attacks,” she alleged.
