Uromi killings: PDP lays strong allegation against Gov. Okpebholo

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The Peoples Democratic Party, or PDP, has accused the administration of state governor Monday Okpebholo of negligence in the recent deaths of innocent northern travelers in Uromi, Edo State.

In a statement released on Monday, the party asserted that the pandemonium was caused by the way the administration handled security throughout the state.

It claimed that prior warnings on the disintegration of the state’s security apparatus had been issued.

Citing increased insecurity, a rise in kidnappings and killings, and the alleged infiltration of the network by uncontrolled vigilante groups, the party recalled that on February 5, just one month prior to the attack, operatives of the Edo State Security Network (ESSN) held a public protest in Benin City and passed a vote of no confidence in their commander, retired Commissioner of Police Friday Ibadin.

As you may remember, the vigilante members’ demonstration took place the day after Governor Okpebholo allegedly dismissed Ibadin and replaced him with Assistant Commander Balogun.

Within a day, that decision was overturned, bringing Ibadin back and sparking the ESSN uprising.

Imade Eweka, an ESSN agent, spoke out during the demonstration and charged Ibadin with using the network as a political tool.

“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,” she said then.

Ibadin was accused by Eweka and others of disarming the corps and substituting supporters from government-known criminal vigilante groups for trained officers.

Additionally, they asserted that under his leadership, the security situation had gotten worse, especially in Edo Central, where both the governor and Ibadin are from.

Innocent passengers were allegedly killed on March 29 while traveling from Port Harcourt to the North for the Sallah holiday by vigilantes in Uromi, who the government has called “illegal.”

The victims were allegedly summarily executed in cold blood after being falsely categorized as kidnappers.

Following the incident, the PDP’s Edo State chapter released a forceful statement denouncing the governor for failing to confront the matter at the outset.

“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,” said PDP Publicity Secretary, Chris Nehikhare.

He added that, “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.”

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