Governor Monday Okpebholo is taking a very aggressive approach to the state’s security challenges, combining faster emergency response, community intelligence, traditional security structures and expanded military operations in an attempt to tackle headlong all the vices of kidnapping, cultism and armed violence.
It is not news because abinitio it is what he set out to do. His strategy is significant not simply due to the number of security measures he has announced, but because it seeks to address different stages of the security problem — from intelligence gathering and prevention to rapid response and military intervention, where required.
Over the last few days, Governor Okpebholo has moved between churches, security meetings and military facilities, using the engagements to demonstrate that his administration’s intention to make security a visible priority.
At Living Faith Church, Winners Chapel, along Sapele Road in Benin City on Sunday, the governor announced plans for an emergency telephone system through which residents could report security threats and trigger rapid deployment “Edo will be safer in the next one month,” Okpebholo said. “We will be able to respond to security threats in any part of the state.”
The proposed system would deploy between five and seven security vehicles to distress calls in five minutes or emergencies, while motorcycles would be used to reach forests and other difficult terrain. This idea addresses one of the recurring weaknesses in Nigeria’s security response: the time lag between the reporting of an attack and the arrival of security personnel.
For victims of kidnapping or armed robbery, minutes can determine whether an incident is contained or becomes a major security operation. A response system that can reliably move personnel quickly could therefore have a practical impact beyond the political symbolism of announcing new security measures. The governor is aware that the success of the emergency line depend less on the telephone number itself than on what happens after a call is made.
He is talking a system with functioning communication channels, trained operators, reliable vehicles, fuel, personnel and clear coordination between the police, Edo State Security Corps and other security agencies. He is talking public awareness. Residents who know where to call, believe their complaints will be taken seriously and trust that reporting criminal activity will not expose them to retaliation.
This is what makes the governor’s decision to involve communities particularly important. At a security stakeholders’ meeting at the Sir Victor Uwaifo Creative Hub in Benin City on Monday, Governor Okpebholo brought together Okaighele, traditional community security aides operating across Edo South, police officers, members of the Edo State Security Corps and community leaders.
His message was that government cannot hope to secure the state by relying solely on conventional security agencies. “Security is not a one-man show but everybody’s business and duty,” he said. It is an approach which underscores the basic reality of crime prevention: the state often does not have the personnel or visibility required to monitor every street, village, forest and rural road. Local residents do.
Community members are often the first to notice unfamiliar vehicles, suspicious movements, abandoned buildings, emerging cult disputes, even new faces or groups moving into an area. If such information reaches security agencies early enough, it can become preventive intelligence rather than evidence collected after an attack. This is where the Okaighele system comes in.
Traditional security structures have long operated at community level, giving them access and local knowledge that formal security institutions may lack. Bringing them into a coordinated security architecture could therefore help bridge the information gap between communities and the police or military.
The plan is for clear limits to their responsibilities. Intelligence gathering and community surveillance are different from law enforcement. Fears of improper coordination, training and accountability, which often make informal security groups vulnerable to abuse, rivalry or mistaken identification of suspects are going to be taken care of.
The administration’s intention is therefore be to use the strengths of local knowledge without creating parallel security structures that operate outside established command and legal frameworks. On this Governor Okpebholo is determined – to combine community intelligence with greater military presence.
On Monday, he inspected a temporary facility at Teboga in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area being prepared for the Nigerian Army’s new 83 Division.The division is one of four new Army formations approved by President Bola Tinubu to expand the military’s operational capacity. Okpebholo said the facilities would be ready within two weeks, with contractors deploying to accelerate construction.
Brig. Gen. Ahmed Balogun, Commander of the Army’s 4 Brigade, said significant progress had been made since an inspection several days earlier. “Between the last time we came here, about four or five days ago, and now, we have seen tremendous work ongoing,” he said.
The military component is important because Edo’s security challenges are not confined to urban centres. Kidnappers and other criminal groups can exploit forests, remote settlements and poorly monitored routes as operating bases or escape corridors. A stronger military presence in such areas could increase pressure on criminal networks that conventional policing finds difficult to reach.
A new formation can increase capacity, but its impact will depend on where personnel are stationed, the quality of intelligence available to them, mobility, logistics and coordination with existing police and security structures.
There is also a broader question about the balance between military and civilian policing. The military can provide substantial firepower and mobility in difficult security environments, but long-term public safety ultimately requires effective policing, functioning courts, intelligence-led investigations and community trust. That is why Governor Okpebholo’s decision to combine military presence with emergency response and community intelligence is potentially more consequential than any single measure.
It creates layers. The community provides early information. The emergency system receives and channels reports. Rapid-response vehicles and motorcycles provide mobility. The police handle conventional law enforcement. The military provides additional capacity in difficult or high-risk areas. In essence, weaknesses in one layer can be compensated for by another.
The strategy also responds to a political problem facing any government confronted by insecurity: public confidence.
People do not assess security only through crime statistics. They judge it by whether they can travel safely, whether they believe help will arrive when they call and whether criminal groups appear to operate without consequences. Okpebholo’s promise is therefore politically significant. “Edo will be safer in the next one month” is a measurable public commitment, even if “safer” itself is difficult to quantify.
The governor’s warning against criminals from outside Edo also reflects another dimension. He said suspects from Niger, Kogi and Bauchi states had been arrested over alleged criminal activities in Edo and warned that anyone committing crime in the state would be caught.
At the same time, Pastor Charles Osazuwa’s comments at Rock of Ages Christian Assembly International introduced another important dimension: security cannot be separated from economic and social stability.
His call for Nigerians to acquire skills and become economically productive points to a longer-term issue. Security operations may suppress criminal activity, but reducing the conditions that make young people vulnerable to recruitment into cult groups and other criminal networks requires jobs, education, skills and economic opportunity.
The emergency telephone system is designed to improve speed. The Okaighele and community structures are intended to improve intelligence. The Army’s 83 Division is expected to strengthen physical presence, particularly in rural and remote areas. There is no doubt that this is a multifaceted approach that will yield results as expected.
Dr. Ebojele, PhD in Public Administration and is the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo