EDO State is now a safe haven for kidnappers and other criminal gangs, who operate with impunity, taking advantage of the deteriorating security situation, as residents and business owners continue to live in constant fear.
The recent release of the abducted National President of the Afenifere Youth Council, Prince Eniola Olajuni, after spending 12 days in captivity in Ibilo, Akoko-Edo Local Government Area, highlights how emboldened criminal elements have become in our dear Edo State, while the Okpebholo administration appears dazed. His administration is only interested in the welfare of the godfathers and his band of thugs.
In the past few weeks, at least 22 Edo people have been brutally killed, including Batemue Philip Ebo, Christopher Bello, and Victor Ogedengbe. Several others have been injured, and properties worth millions of naira have been destroyed.
The ongoing bloodbath was even acknowledged via a statement by Senator Okpebholo himself, who is obviously overwhelmed by the challenges of governance and lacking any strategic plan to contain the worsening insecurity and prevent future occurrences.
The case of Ojajuni, who was abducted on Monday, February 17, 2025, on his way to Abuja for a meeting and was released last weekend after being held in captivity for about 12 days in Ibilo, Edo State, is one of the many cases that have placed the State as the new capital of kidnapping and violent crimes in Nigeria
Kidnappers and other criminals now see Edo as the weakest link in the country, with security in a state of total collapse. Edo State is in chaos, the people are under siege, and the Chief Security Officer of the State, Senator Monday Okpebholo, appears confused and completely incapable of managing the escalating insecurity.
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Despite receiving N750 million monthly in security votes, nearly double the amount available to the immediate past administration of His Excellency, Godwin Obaseki, Senator Okpebholo has left Edo in a state of paralysis, with residents living in constant fear and instead of utilizing these funds to tackle the worsening security crisis, he continues to squander them on godfathers, thugs, extravagance and needless jamborees.
While these criminals are emboldened, the State’s security apparatus is also said to be weak. Senator Okpebholo is said to have crippled the State’s Security Vigilante Network which helped in tackling insecurity in the local communities.
The fact that the kidnap victim was held in Edo throughout these horrible 12 days of his captivity before he was eventually released within the State, further proves that Edo has become a safe haven for kidnappers. This further shows how porous our bushes have become in the last few months of Senator Okpebholo’s government, having crippled the vigilante and forest guards that helped the government in tackling insecurity, especially at the grassroots.
In reality, Edo needs help fast and rather than focusing on tackling insecurity, Senator Okpebholo has been busy with his political survival, junketing different States across the country, from Abuja to Lagos, Imo to Akwa Ibom, and beyond, seeking political godfathers to help him influence tribunal judges to uphold the flawed and manipulated 2024 governorship election that brought him into office.
We want to remind Senator Okpebholo that his first responsibility, no matter how bereft of integrity his mandate is, is to protect the lives and property of Edo people, and on this, he has woefully failed.
Edo people are however optimistic and are eagerly awaiting the judiciary to correct the injustice of September 21, 2024, and return the stolen mandate to the PDP and Asue Ighodalo, whom they overwhelmingly voted for in the last governorship election so that the State can return to the path of security, peace and progress
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