Stakeholders Criticise Okpebholo’s Government Over Silence For More Than 24 Hours After Gunmen Killed Eight NSCDC Officers In Edo

The Edo State Government has been criticized for its “silence for more than 24 hours” after gunmen killed “eight officers” of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) 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” and a separate raid on the “BUA Cement facility in Okpella,” where the NSCDC personnel were killed and a Chinese national was abducted.

The Edo Civil Society Organisations (EDOCSO) expressed disappointment with what it called 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.”

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EDOCSO urged the government to procure “high-tech security equipment” and establish a “trained special squad.” Umweni also added, “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.”

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, the coalition said, “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 group called the governor’s silence “deafening,” and warned, “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.”

Other stakeholders also echoed similar concerns. Former commissioner Ogbeide Ifaluyi-Isibor advocated for reviving a dismantled “CCTV monitoring system.” 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.”