Speaking to journalists on Friday, June 20, after meeting with the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Working Committee in Abuja, Ododo said the pressure from military offensives in the northern regions had forced criminals to relocate into states like Kogi.
“The recent influx of criminals, I call them criminals, because a normal human being cannot stay in the forest. The influx of these criminals is the result of the pushback from the North East and North West,” the governor said.
The military has intensified its campaign against terrorism in the two northern zones, prompting reports that some fighters are escaping the heat by moving into nearby regions.
Ododo’s comments come just two days after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu visited Benue State to sympathise with residents following the mass killing in Yelwata on June 13.
