Security situation in Edo relatively calm – Obaseki

Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo, on Wednesday in Benin, said that the security situation in the state was relatively calm, adding that efforts were ongoing to sustain it.

Obaseki stated this while reviewing the state security situation for the month of July, after a joint security meeting with all heads of various security agencies in the state.

According to him, the reports considered show that security environment in Edo is relatively calm.

“Quite a lot of activities had been undertaken to make sure that incessant kidnappings and armed robberies on Benin-Auchi road are handled and brought under control.

“For the month of June, we’ve seen considerable reduction in incidents of kidnapping in that axis; we’ve seen a few more cases in Uromi-Agbor axis and that is being worked on.

“Another issue that was considered was a report on drugs abuse by National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

“We are working with NDLEA, members of the society, civil society organisations, religious leaders,nongovernmental organisations and the press in advocacy so that we can highlight the dangers and bring them under control.

“We also received very unfortunate reports about the increase in road accidents.

From Aug. 1 alone till date, we’ve recorded about eight ghastly motor accidents, with about seven deaths.

“We’ve directed that further investigations be carried out so that we can reduce the recurrence of situations like that,” he said.

Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Phillip Ogbadu, while giving a review of the security situation in the state, also said that it was very calm.

Ogbadu said that the police had undertaken various operations and that reports had shown that it was safer to reside in the state than any other part of the country.

“Kidnapping is very low; we have recorded only two for this month.

Whenever robbery incidents happened, we do arrest those involved, while all other crimes have been well-curtailed.

“We are also working with Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to reduce road crashes in the state,” he said.