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Kogi State Police Command on Monday at the police headquarters in Lokoja paraded two suspected notorious political thugs with two AK47 and five pump action guns allegedly working for Dino Melaye, a senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District.
The two suspects, Kabiru Saidu (Osama) and Nuhu Salisu (Small) were paraded by the Police Force Headquarters public relation officer, Jimoh Moshood, at the Kogi State Police Command in Lokoja.
He said the suspects were arrested after a gun battle with a police team, which lasted several hours on January 19, 2018.
Moshood also told journalists that the two suspects confessed they were working as a political thug for Dino Melaye upon interrogation.
“The gang leader, Kabiru Osama, was introduced to senator Dino Melaye and they met on Airport Road Abuja inside Dino Melaye car in December 2017,” according to the police.
The suspects further confessed that Melaye told him that they should start working for him as his political thugs, and they should recruit and train more other thugs to work for him in preparation toward 2019 general election, challenge his political opponents and disorganised Kogi State.
The Force PRO alleged that the suspects confessed that Melaye handed over a bag containing one AK47 rifle, two pump action guns and the sum of N430,000 to share with his boy.
Moshood further stated that upon the indictment and criminal confession of the principal suspect, Kabiru Saidu, the police wrote to the Senate requesting Dino Melaye to report to the Kogi State police command to answer questions on criminal offences levelled against him, to enable the police carry out a discreet investigation into the confession, but the lawmaker refused to honour the invitation.
Meanwhile, Melaye in his reaction to the allegations on telephone, said it was a framed up and an orchestrated attempt by the state government to discredited him.
The senator said he had never seen the suspects in his life and did not have anything to do with them, adding that the move was an attempt by the Kogi State government to shut him up and prevent him from speaking the truth about governance in the state.
He pointed out that he contested and won election into the House of Representatives and the Senate without working with political thugs, saying the plan had been exposed about six weeks ago.
“This is an attempt to shut me up and stop me from speaking the truth, but they have failed, it is an orchestrated lie by the governor and the police. I have tweeted about six weeks ago that they want to set me up because I got an Intel from government house when they met to set me up.
“You can see the conflicting statements by the criminals. I heard one said I gave two AK47 and pump action, while the other said I gave only one rifle and that I gave N430,000 to train militia, and that I met them in Airport Road in December 2017, but they didn’t give a date and time.”
