Edo State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Abutu Yaro has attributed the recent decline in cases of kidnappings along the Benin-Auchi Road to intensive policing of the highway, which is notorious for a series of kidnappings, by men of the Edo State Police Command
Yaro spoke in Benin during a meeting with members of the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), and other relevant stakeholders in the state.
The Edo Police boss said that in the last 90 days, there have not been cases of kidnapping for ransom by Fulani herdsmen due to the aggressive security measures put in place by the police.
Also, he disclosed that in the last 120 days, only one kidnap attempt took place along the Benin-Lagos expressway, near Ogbemudia Farm, but was heavily repelled by operatives of the command.
He emphasized: “I can confidently attest that in the past 90 days, the roads between Benin and Ekpoma have not witnessed any kidnapping.”
The police commissioner who commended the Edo Security Network (ESN) for working hand-in-hand with the police in reducing crime and criminality in the state, said, the outfit will be reorganized just as he assured that within the next 72 hours, the officers and men of the operatives (ESN) would be given adequate training at the Ogida, Benin Police Barracks to enable them to do their jobs effectively and professionally.
Yaro commended Governor Godwin Obaseki for reinforcing the police command with additional special forces components from Abuja in order to enable the proportional capacity of the command to remain consistently ahead.
The Edo Police boss said that the governor also donated 15 new operational vehicles to the police command which are being deployed to all the 58 police divisions in Edo State.
As a way of checking the activities of criminals in the state, he said that the government recently installed close circuit television (CCTV) in almost every strategic place in Benin.
Yaro said: “The governor has placed elaborate CCTV camera system that covers almost every strategic place in the state capital.
“We are operating with functional mobilities. That is to say, we have functional vehicles and as I speak, the elements of lubricants, petroleum and diesel required to power these vehicles have been put in place.”
