Is Okpebholo Overwhelmed by Insecurity?

Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State seems to have been overwhelmed by the security challenges confronting the state since he assumed office.

Almost on a daily basis, people are being kidnapped and killed particularly in Edo Central and Edo North senatorial districts respectively.

In Auchi, the two brothers, identified as Abu Ibrahim Babatunde and Abu Tahir Emhoye, were abducted by some gunmen.

The brothers, both medical doctors, were ambushed and kidnapped at the gate of their home.

First, the kidnappers demanded a N200 million ransom. They later reduced the amount to N100 million. But before anything meaningful could be raised, the unthinkable happened. Emhoye was killed. His body dumped by a riverside.

A joint search team, police, army, vigilantes, hunters later found the body at the river. The elder brother, Babatunde, is still with the kidnappers while the family is struggling to raise the ransom.

Last week, students of the Ambrose Alli University in Ekpoma embarked on a demonstration to express their frustration with the activities of kidnappers in the area.

For the students, the plea for help had been ignored, while incidents of kidnapping continue with reckless impunity.

As soon as they jumped into the streets to legitimately draw the government’s attention to their plight, the governor deployed the same security agents that couldn’t combat the kidnappers to assault and arrest them.

In fact, one of the unarmed protesters was shot and killed by the military that could not confront the armed kidnappers that held the area hostage.

Rather than tackle the insecurity that has made the state no-go areas, Okpebholo is obsessed with the campaign for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027 and how he would deliver 2.5million votes for President Bola Tinubu.

It was not surprising that the protesters destroyed the campaign billboards of the governor and the president during the protest, which turned violent.

In order to spite his predecessor, Godwin Obaseki, Okpebholo had dismantled the security architecture he inherited and came up with his own which has remained ineffective.

The governor should stop his obsession with the 2027 elections and tackle the insecurity in the state.