It was another eventful week on Edo’s crime beat, with security agencies keeping busy rescuing kidnap victims, exposing a fake abduction, arresting suspected pipeline vandals and recovering vehicles reported stolen years ago.
As the saying goes, “Crime may look clever at the beginning, but it usually runs out of ideas before the law does.” That appeared to be the case in several successful operations carried out across the state.
The biggest breakthrough came in Iyahmo, Etsako East Local Government Area, where operatives of the Edo State Police Command, supported by local vigilantes and hunters, rescued 11 kidnapped farmers after a fierce gun battle with suspected kidnappers.
According to the police, the victims were kidnapped on June 25 while working on their farms at Ogbido Community, Iyahmo, Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State.
Unable to withstand the combined assault, the gunmen fled into the forest, abandoning their captives. The victims comprising nine males and two females identified by police as Braimah Destiny, 46, Aruna Idris, 38, Abudu Sharafadeem, 38, Godwin Elizabeth, 28, James Favour, 28, Nonso Ana, 30, Abdulilia Ozigi, 26, Lambo James, 27, Wasia Abdul, 48, Lucky Emmanuel, 24, and Suleman Aliyu, 25, were rescued unharmed, treated and reunited with their families, while police intensified efforts to track down the fleeing suspects.
In Igarra, detectives uncovered what could best be described as a kidnapping that never was. Two men, Lucky Alabi, 48, and Taiye Enahoro, 37 were arrested for allegedly staging the abduction of one of them and demanding a ₦4 million ransom from his relatives.
Police said the suspects confessed during interrogation and would be arraigned after investigations. No wonder the saying, “When greed writes the script, investigation often spoils the ending.”
The week also saw the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps arrest two suspected pipeline vandals Kadiri Isah, 55, and Mustapha Naphiyu, 27, in Ekpoma. Acting on intelligence, operatives tracked down the suspects, who are alleged to be linked to the vandalism of NNPC pipelines and other critical national assets.
The NSCDC said investigations were ongoing to dismantle the wider network behind the economic sabotage, warning that surveillance and enforcement operations would continue across the state.
Meanwhile, a routine stop-and-search operation in Benin City yielded another breakthrough as police recovered vehicles reportedly stolen in 2024. Two suspects, Ezekiel Aguele, 46, and Emmanuel Afolayan were apprehended after officers discovered forged vehicle documents, leading to the recovery of another suspected stolen vehicle.
The operations, no doubt, has reinforced an old policing lesson, “A routine check may seem ordinary, but many extraordinary arrests begin with one.”
If the week’s scorecard is anything to go by, Governor Monday Okpebholo’s security push is gathering momentum. For criminals in Edo, the space to operate is shrinking, and the law is closing in.
