Africa-Press – Nigeria. More than 24 hours after kidnappers had a field day in Edo killing eight personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, and abducted scores of others, the state government is yet to speak on the incident.
DAILY POST reports that passengers in the New Edo Line Transport Company’s bus were abducted along Sobe- Afuze-Auchi road, in Owan West Local Government Area on Friday at about 4:30 pm, eight personnel of the NSCDC were killed while a Chinese expatriate was also abducted on the same Friday at about 10pm at the BUA cement company, Okpella in Etsako East Local Government Area of the state.
It was learnt that since the incidents there has been no official statement either from the office of the Governor, the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Paul Ohonbamu, nor media aides to the Governor consoling the bereaved families.
There were also no words of sympathy for the injured who are reportedly receiving treatment in undisclosed hospitals.
Meanwhile, there are allegations that this is not the first time the state government would be keeping silent on incidents like this in the state.
Reports indicate that it was two weeks after suspected Ijaw militias invaded communities in Ovia South-West Local Government Area and killed over 27 cocoa farmers and 34 others sustained various degrees of injuries that the state governor broke his silence on the incident during his visit to the communities to commiserate and sympathize with the people.
The incident happened on February 22, 2025, and the governor visited the area on March 6, 2025.
The killings and abductions as well as the silence of the government have, however, generated a lot of reactions as citizens and civil society groups are now calling on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on insecurity in the state.
The citizens also urged the state government to revive the alleged dismantled CCTV monitoring apparatus of the past government.
A civil society group under the aegis of the Edo Civil Society Organisations, EDOCSO, has tasked the state government and all the security agencies to wake up to their responsibilities and ensure the lives and property of citizens are protected.
The group noted that the people desire to be protected from the activities of the marauding kidnappers who seem to have laid a siege in different parts of the state.
A statement by the group, signed by Aliyu Umweni, Assistant Secretary-General, urged Governor Okpebholo not to bother about the 2027 presidential elections and concentrate on securing the lives of Edo people with the security votes being collected monthly.
EDOCSO also urged the government to procure High-tech equipment and a special squad trained to go after the kidnappers and other criminal elements in the state.
According to the statement, the leadership and members of Edo Civil Society Organisations, EDOCSO, have deemed it necessary to raise serious concerns over the incessant and unabated kidnapping of citizens in different parts of the state.
“The most troubling incidents which took place on the 6th of September, 2025 wherein eight (8) personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corp got killed and a Chinese national abducted by the daredevil kidnappers and the abduction of all passengers on a bus belonging to the state government transport company is one too many.
“There have been reports of kidnapping activities in Orhionmwon, Ovia, Uhunmwonde, Akoko-edo, Auchi, Ikpoba Okha, Edo Central and parts of Oredo where the seat of government is domiciled.
“All our neighbouring states have intensified efforts in pursuing the kidnappers out of their territories thereby making Edo State their safe haven for their activities.
“The state governor should at this time bother less about the 2027 elections and concentrate more on securing the lives of Edo people with the monthly security votes being collected.
“The Nigeria Police Force should rejig its operations and focus more on violent crimes rather than the numerous road blocks mounted in short distances within Benin City metropolis which has become a point of extortion and intimidation of citizens.
“The state government and the security agencies should take actions in securing the release of those abducted by kidnappers and ensure no further activities of the kidnappers should be heard in Edo state.
“High-tech equipment should be procured and a special squad trained to go after these kidnappers”, it said.
The group, however, vowed to mobilize its members and Edo people for a protest if the state government fails to take action within the next 48 hours.
On its part, the Edo State Civil Society Coalition for Human Rights called on the Federal Government to declare a State of Emergency on insecurity in the state without delay.
Its statement, signed by Marxist Kola Edokpayi, Coordinator General and Aghatise Raphael, Secretary-General respectively, called for the establishment of a joint military, police, citizens and hunters strike operations to comb the forests and rid the state of kidnappers, terrorists and other criminals.
While urging the Edo State leaders to stop playing politics with human lives, he noted that justice must be served to the killers of Civil Defence officers to the abductors of seminarians, commuters, doctors, farmers, and community leaders across the state.
The group opined that real security must be rebuilt from the grassroots through collaboration with communities, faith groups, and civil society.
It, however, posited that there was no need to go back to the days of neighbourhood watch introduced by the former administration of Governor Adams Oshiomhole.
“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.
“From the forests of Odighi in Ovia North- East to the outskirts of Ologbo in Ikpoba Okha, from Auchi, Etsako West to Abudu, Orhionmwon local government areas the shadow of kidnapping and violent crime has fallen across all three senatorial districts.
“The relentless surge in abductions, ambushes, and killings has brought the state to its knees, leaving citizens to wonder: who, if anyone, is truly in charge?
“On 5th September 2025, eight brave Civil Defence officers were brutally murdered in Agenebode, and a Chinese National abducted. On 6th September 2025, a full 18-seater Edo Line bus was hijacked and all passengers kidnapped.
“Young Catholic seminarians were recently seized from their training grounds. The young seminarians have spent more than 50 days in captivity, the Government and security agencies have not deemed it fit to secure their release unhurt.
“Days earlier, medical doctors were abducted along the Benin–Auchi Road, farmers were taken from their farmlands in Esan, and a respected community leader was snatched at gunpoint in Ekpoma. In Akoko Edo, Chief Balogun was kidnapped.
“These are not isolated tragedies. They are proof that from farmers to priests, commuters to professionals, no one is safe.
“The fundamental question on the lips of every Edolite is this: Where is the Chief Security Officer of the state, Governor Monday Okpebholo, where is the Commissioner of Police, Edo State Command, where is the Director of State Security Service, where is the Brigade Commander, of 4th Brigade and other heads of security agencies? And what exactly are their plans to quell this raging menace?
“The Constitution is unambiguous: the security and welfare of the people is the primary purpose of government. Yet in Edo today, this duty feels reduced to a talking point, a mere afterthought buried under political calculations.
“The governor’s purported silence on this matter is deafening. With a new administration in place, the people expected a decisive break from the failures of the past. Instead, what they see is the same old script of ineffectiveness.
“Has the Governor chosen to focus on consolidating political power and delivering on partisan promises like the pledge of “2.5 million votes for Tinubu in 2027” at the expense of his foremost duty to protect the lives of Edo people? Are citizens’ lives now collateral damage in a political game?.
“Edo people are not demanding miracles. They are demanding competence. They are not asking for speeches. They are demanding a concerted plan to end Kidnapping.
“Until a credible, transparent, and actionable security strategy is unveiled and implemented, distrust will deepen and fear will spread. The people’s mandate was not given for Edo to become a playground for kidnappers and killers.
“Edo people will not bow to kidnappers and cultists. We refuse to be ruled by fear. If urgent action is not taken, peace, progress, and governance in our state will collapse entirely. The time for gestures is over.
“The Chief Security Officer and heads of security agencies must act now beyond rhetoric and prove, through bold and practical measures, that the lives of Edo People are their highest priority. Anything less is a betrayal of trust given to His Excellency by the electorate who are now victims of kidnapping and killings.
“We stand with victims, their families, and all Edo residents trapped in this reign of terror. The time to act is now”, the group stated.
Other group who condemned the spate of insecurity, killings and abductions in the state include, a group under the aegis of Gidigba, the former commissioner in the Governor Godwin Obaseki’s administration, Ogbeide Ifaluyi-Isibor, a former Vice Chairman of Etsako Local Government Area Hon Jelil Ainakhuagbor, and Elder Curtis Eghosa Ugbo
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