CRITICISM TRAILS EDO GOVERNMENT’S SILENCE AFTER KILLINGS OF NSCDC OFFICERS, MASS ABDUCTIONS
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By Aishat Momoh. O
The Edo State Government is facing mounting criticism for failing to respond publicly more than 24 hours after gunmen killed eight operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and carried out multiple abductions across the state.
The coordinated attacks, which took place on Friday, included the hijacking of a New Edo Line Transport Company bus along the Sobe–Afuze–Auchi Road in Owan West Local Government Area, and a deadly raid on the BUA Cement facility in Okpella, Etsako East LGA, where eight NSCDC personnel were slain and a Chinese national was kidnapped.
In a statement on Sunday, the Edo Civil Society Organisations (EDOCSO) condemned what it described as the government’s recurring indifference to security crises.
“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,” said Aliyu Umweni, EDOCSO’s Assistant Secretary-General.
The group urged the government to procure advanced security equipment, set up a trained special squad to track kidnappers, and mobilise resources to secure the release of abducted victims. It also threatened mass protests if decisive action was not taken within 48 hours.
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, Coordinator-General Kola Edokpayi and Secretary-General Aghatise Raphael described Edo as “a tragic theatre of insecurity, a landscape where fear rules and the lives of ordinary citizens are treated with shocking disregard.”
The coalition also called for the deployment of a joint task force comprising the military, police, hunters, and vigilantes to combat the rising wave of kidnappings and violent crimes.
Community leaders have also expressed outrage. Former Vice Chairman of Etsako LGA, Jelil Ainakhuagbor, described the worsening insecurity as “a civilian coup against citizens,” while Elder Curtis Eghosa Ugbo warned, “No government can afford to ignore the cries of its people in the face of escalating insecurity.”
The silence of the Edo State Government, amid a growing list of violent incidents—including the killings of cocoa farmers, abduction of doctors, and prolonged captivity of Catholic seminarians—has deepened fears among residents that insecurity is spiraling out of control across the state.
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