By joshua GRASSROOTS SECURITY GETS MAJOR BOOST AS SENATOR KARIMI EQUIPS OKUN HUNTERS WITH BUS, MOTORCYCLES
… Fortifies FOBs, Funds Patrol Vehicles, and Puts Community Policing on Wheels in Kogi West
By Our Reporter
In a move that reinforces his reputation as Nigeria’s most security-conscious lawmaker, Senator Sunday Steve Karimi has delivered a major operational boost to grassroots security in Kogi West with the donation of a brand new 18-seater Coaster bus and six motorcycles to the Okun Hunters Association and local vigilante groups.
The donation, made over the weekend during his tour of the senatorial district, is designed to solve the most critical challenge facing local security operatives – mobility. The new assets will enhance surveillance, improve intelligence gathering, ensure faster response to distress calls, and provide a more visible security presence across the forests and border communities of Kogi West.
According to security sources at the handover, “Improved mobility means that operatives can seize the initiative. It means they can respond faster, patrol deeper, and make citizens feel safer.”
The intervention is strategic. Senator Karimi recognizes that while conventional security agencies are vital, community-based structures like the Okun Hunters understand the terrain and have become the first line of defence against kidnapping and banditry.
This latest gesture is part of a sustained security blueprint that goes far beyond donations.
Recall that Senator Karimi personally facilitated, built and fully furnished a 96-bed, state-of-the-art military Forward Operating Base (FOB) on the Kogi-Kwara-Ekiti border at Egbe, Yagba West. The multi-million naira base, with reported personal expenditure exceeding N750 million, came with accommodation, armoury and logistics.
Beyond the Egbe base, he provided brand-new Hilux patrol vehicles to enhance military operations, facilitated additional deployment of troops to flashpoints including Jege, Odo-Ere, Isanlu and Olle-Bunu, and supported a security outpost in the Kabba-Bunu axis near Kogi State University to protect communities such as Gbeleko, Okedayo, Kakun and Egbeda.
He has also consistently catered for the welfare of deployed troops, providing protective equipment and accommodation support for operatives working in arduous and vulnerable terrains, while also standing with families affected by kidnapping incidents.
At the National Assembly, Senator Karimi has matched action on the ground with advocacy in the chamber, consistently pushing for security sector reforms, community policing frameworks and increased funding for forward operations.
It is this rare blend of legislative advocacy and practical investment on the ground that earned him the award of ‘Most Security Conscious Senator in Nigeria’ at the 14th Anniversary of Democracy Newsline in Abuja.
From building a military base with his own resources to putting hunters on wheels, Senator Sunday Steve Karimi has shown that for him, representation is not about talking security – it is about funding security.