Posted on: Tue 24-11-2020

Edo State wings of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) and Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), yesterday, expressed concern over rising insecurity in the state, urging the state government and security agencies to tackle the situation without further delay.

The groups, which addressed a joint press conference in Benin City, said the situation in the state necessitated the creation of state police, as being canvassed in most parts of the country.

Chairman, Benin branch of NBA, Oiwo Pius, said the joint conference became necessary because the state was drifting towards anarchy due to the rising insecurity. Chairman, Edo branch of NMA, Dr. Omokhua Harrison, appealed to government at all levels to secure Edo people, stressing that there was still a lot to be done to secure of lives and property of Nigerians.

“We urge Governor Godwin Obaseki, who is the Chef Security Officer (CSO) of the state, to save Edo people further agony by doing the needful. We commend his efforts so far at curbing insecurity, but a lot still need to be done in this regard, as it appears that previous efforts have not yielded the desired results.

“We also call on President Muhammadu Buhari and Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, to rescue Edo people and save them from hoodlums who have continued to make them live in perpetual fear and uncertainty,” they stated.

On his part, Publicity Secretary of NBA, Ogaga Emoghwanre, pointed out that the deployment of the joint security task force was not sufficient in addressing the security challenges in the state.

“There is a deployment to Upper Sokponba and Ehor areas, but there are no deployments in Auchi, Ekpoma, Igueben, Okada, Iguobazuwa and other areas.

“The deployment is about one per cent of the security requirement in the state. The IGP has sent five Mopol units to Edo, but we are not seeing them. We urge the police authorities to do more, because we need to see more of their presence around us. They have done well, but we need them to do more,” Ogaga said.

MEANWHILE, the State Joint Security Task Force has continued strict enforcement of the 10:00p.m. to 6:00a.m. curfew government imposed on the state to check the activities of hoodlums and criminals following the hijack of the #EndSARS protests in the state.

The Task Force, comprising the Army, Police and other security agencies, at the weekend, raided some hotels and clubs in Benin City found to be violating the curfew to ensure strict compliance.

Prior to the operation, General Officer Commanding 2 Division, Major General Anthony Omozoje, had intimated Governor Obaseki on their activities in the state. Obaseki had charged the security agencies to reinforce the curfew to check the activities of hoodlums and criminals in order to restore peace and order in the state.

Source: Guardian

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