Security operatives in Kogi State have killed a notorious criminal, Kabir Bala, linked to the death of the woman leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Salome Abu.

Addressing journalists on Thursday, the state Commissioner of Police, Akeem Yusuf, said Bala was neutralised on Wednesday at Ejule in Ofu Local Government Area of the state.

He stated that the criminal and his gang members engaged the Joint Security team upon sighting them in the early hours of Wednesday.

“Today, 22nd June 2023, at about 0430hrs in pursuit of the above, the Kabir Bala and his gang members on sighting the Joint Security team opened fire on them and started shooting sporadically,” the commissioner said.

“The team engaged the hoodlums; the said Kabir Bala was neutralized in the process while other members of his gang escaped with varying degrees of injuries,”

The police commissioner recalled that the Kogi State Government “granted pardon in the prerogative of mercy as part of rehabilitation to one notorious gang leader named Kabir Bala, aka Okwo,” in Ejule, Ofu LGA in October 2018.

According to the police, Bala remained an unrepentant criminal with lots of atrocities traced to him which includes dealing in illegal arms, kidnappings and killings in the state.

Yusuf explained that Bala also killed five Fulani herders including Ibrahim, Haruna and Shuaibu Wang on Alloma Road in Ofu LGA in April 2022, and Muhammed and Dauda on March 3, 2023.

He added, “Several cases had been traced to him such as the burning alive of Mrs Salome Abu, a PDP woman leader in Olu LGA, in her residence on November 2015, at Ochadamu, and the killing of two gallant youths, Umoru Abeh and Unerwu Sule on April 20, 2022, at Ejule.

“Other crimes committed by Kabir Bala and his gang included an attack on troops of the Nigerian Navy and dispossessing them of four rifles at the Alloma village on March 4, 2022. However, the firearms were later returned to the Navy following a high-powered intervention.”