Uromi killings: Gov Okpebholo ignored security warnings, says PDP

The recent killing of northern travelers in Uromi, Edo State, has ignited widespread condemnation and intensified scrutiny of Governor Monday Okpebholo’s administration over its handling of security.

In the wake of the incident, the Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has issued a strongly worded statement, condemning the governor’s failure to address the crisis when it first emerged.

“The recent government classification of the perpetrators as an illegal vigilante group only further exposes the absence of a coherent security framework under the current administration and a continuation of the blame game this government has come to master,” PDP Publicity Secretary, Chris Nehikhare said.

“The knee-jerk, Abuja-ordered suspension of the Commander of the Edo State Security Corps, CP Friday Ibadin (Rtd), is a clear admission by the government that the security architecture of the state has failed.

“The February 5 mutiny by members of the Edo Security Corps was an early warning sign of deep-rooted inefficiencies, yet Senator Monday Okpebholo chose to ignore it. Now, Edo people and Nigerians are paying the price of Okpebholo’s incompetence with their lives.

“It is particularly distressing that a vigilante group, operating without any oversight or proper registration, was allowed to take up arms and engage in extra-judicial killings. This is an indictment of the Okpebholo administration’s failure to properly regulate, train, and coordinate security efforts in the state.”

Though the governor has now suspended Ibadin and ordered a security review, tensions remain high. Fears of reprisal attacks are growing as the identities of the victims come to light.

“Ibadin was a Labour Party politician in Uromi who supported the governor’s election. They rewarded him with the top security job,” a local source said.

“How can you turn security into political compensation? Why didn’t they appoint Balogun when we warned them?” he queried.

What is now being described as a preventable tragedy is increasingly being linked to earlier warnings about the breakdown of the state’s security structure; warnings the government allegedly chose to ignore.

On February 5, just one month before the attack, operatives of the Edo State Security Network (ESSN) staged a public protest in Benin City.

The corps members passed a vote of no confidence in their commander, retired Commissioner of Police Friday Ibadin, citing rising insecurity, a surge in kidnappings and killings, and the alleged infiltration of the network by unregulated vigilante groups.

The protest came a day after Governor Okpebholo reportedly removed Ibadin and appointed Assistant Commander Balogun in his place. That decision was reversed within 24 hours, reinstating Ibadin and igniting the revolt within the ESSN.

Speaking at the protest, ESSN operative Imade Eweka accused Ibadin of turning the network into a political instrument.

Her words: “Commander Ibadin is playing politics. He has been deploying his loyalists to extort money from innocent citizens, undermining the integrity of our mission.

“Meanwhile, we are unarmed, unpaid, and our members are dying during rescue operations.”

Eweka and others accused Ibadin of disarming the corps and replacing trained officers with loyalists drawn from illegal vigilante groups known to the government.

They also claimed that the security situation, particularly in Edo Central where both the governor and Ibadin hail from, had worsened under his leadership.