The Edo State Government has come under criticism for its silence for more than 24 hours after gunmen killed eight officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and carried out multiple abductions across the state.
The attacks, which occurred on Friday, included the hijacking of a New Edo Line Transport Company bus along the Sobe–Afuze–Auchi Road in Owan West Local Government Area and a separate raid on the BUA Cement facility in Okpella, Etsako East LGA, where eight NSCDC personnel were killed and a Chinese national was abducted.
Since the incidents, there has been no official statement of condolence or solidarity from the state government, a silence that has drawn sharp criticism from civil society groups and residents.
The Edo Civil Society Organisations, in a statement on Sunday, expressed disappointment over what it described as the government’s recurring indifference to security crises.
Aliyu Umweni, the group’s Assistant Secretary-General, said: “The state governor should at this time bother less with the 2027 elections and concentrate more on securing the lives of Edo people with the monthly security votes being collected.”
EDOCSO urged the government to immediately procure high-tech security equipment, establish a trained special squad to track kidnappers, and mobilise resources to secure the release of abducted victims. The group also warned that residents might resort to protests if no action was taken within 48 hours.
“The Nigeria Police Force should also rejig its operations and focus more on violent crimes rather than the numerous roadblocks mounted within Benin City, which have become points of extortion and intimidation,” Umweni added.
Similarly, the Edo Civil Society Coalition for Human Rights called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on insecurity in the state.
In a joint statement signed by its Coordinator-General, Kola Edokpayi, and Secretary-General, Aghatise Raphael, the coalition urged the deployment of a joint task force comprising the military, police, hunters, and community vigilantes to tackle kidnappers and terrorists.
“Edo State has become a tragic theatre of insecurity, a landscape where fear rules and the lives of ordinary citizens are treated with shocking disregard,” the statement read.
The coalition cited previous incidents, including the killings of cocoa farmers, the abduction of doctors, and the prolonged captivity of Catholic seminarians, as evidence of deepening insecurity across all three senatorial districts.
It called on Governor Monday Okpebholo to fulfil his constitutional responsibility as the state’s chief security officer, describing his silence as “deafening.”
“Edo people are not asking for miracles, they are demanding competence. They do not need speeches, they need a concrete plan to end kidnapping. Until a credible and actionable security strategy is unveiled, distrust will deepen and fear will spread,” the coalition warned.
Other stakeholders echoed similar concerns. Former commissioner Ogbeide Ifaluyi-Isibor advocated for the revival of the dismantled CCTV monitoring system introduced by former Governor Godwin Obaseki to boost surveillance.
Jelil Ainakhuagbor, former Vice Chairman of Etsako LGA, described the situation as “a civilian coup against citizens,” while community leader Elder Curtis Eghosa Ugbo said, “No government can afford to ignore the cries of its people in the face of escalating insecurity.”
Credit: punchng.com
