RADIO Nigeria’s Prime 101.5FM Jimgbe in Kogi State has gone off air following a robbery attack in which transmission equipment worth millions of naira were stolen.
Quoting the General Manager of the Station, Momoh-Jimoh Adeiza, Kogi Reports, a local publication, said the incident happened in the early hours of Saturday.
The armed robbers were said to have operated uninterrupted for more than three hours.
Adezia told reporters that they woke up to see that their station had been vandalised, with no trace of the armed men behind the incident.
“This is a major attack on the station. We are currently off air because our equipment has been stolen by armed criminals. When they came, they tied up our security Man on duty to carry out their nefarious activities. Where do we go from here now?”
“I am calling on security agencies to double their efforts in apprehending those criminals who have carried out this grievous crime. I have communicated with our zonal director on this sad development,” he said.
Adeiza, however, called on the relevant authorities to come to the aid of the station so that it can come back on air again.
Narrating his ordeal with the suspected criminals, the security man on duty, identified as Daniel Haruna, said the robbers were armed with dangerous weapons such as guns, cutlasses, adding that they moved away with copper parts of the feeder lines, 22 pieces of modules, armoured cables, generator batteries, and many more.
“They were more than 10 armed criminals who attacked our station. They came around 1 am this Saturday morning with guns and cutlasses. When they pointed a torchlight on me, they immediately gripped me and tied me to a tree and blindfolded my eyes.
“I could not scream because I was helpless. They operated for more than three hours before they left our station. I have never experienced this kind of thing in my life before,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Kogi State government has said that the vandalism of Radio Nigeria equipment in Kogi State is condemnable.
Kogi State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Femi Fanwo, in a statement issued on Saturday, said the state government would work with security agencies to ensure that the perpetrators are apprehended and brought to book.
“We will work with the management of the station to ascertain the degree of vandalism and also get clues on what led to the unfortunate incident.
“The Kogi State Government is committed to protecting all federal agencies within the state, saying efforts will be made to stop this from becoming a new normal.
“We will be ready to render any possible support to the station in this trying period, as we urge federal agencies in the state to be security conscious and always inform the State Government if and when they need support,” he said.