Edo commissioner alleges residents harbour kidnappers

Edo State Commissioner for Public Safety and Security Festus Ebea has accused some residents of exploiting the nation's security challenges to facilitate kidnapping and other violent crimes. Ebea alleged that individuals in the state are harboring herdsmen under the guise of assisting with cattle rearing, only to use them for kidnapping operations.

"From our security lenses, we have found out that some of our youths now keep herdsmen and the terrorists in their houses and point out to them where there is kidnapping business to do," Ebea stated during a monthly briefing in Benin. He revealed that arrested suspects confessed to being brought into the state by local accomplices who provided them with housing before they carried out abductions and took victims into the bush.

“

From our security lenses, we have found out that some of our youths now keep herdsmen and the terrorists in their houses and point out to them where there is kidnapping business to do.

To combat the rising insecurity, the state is implementing measures to strengthen its security architecture. This includes the deployment of 500 forest guards currently undergoing training to secure forests across Edo. Additionally, the Federal Government has approved 500 more personnel, bringing the total to 1,000. Governor Monday Okpebholo's administration has also engaged 5,400 members of the Edo State Security Corps, with 300 appointed in each of the 18 local government areas.

“

The arrested accomplices and kidnappers have confessed to how they were brought in and housed. And when they kidnapped people, they take them into the bush like cows.