Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State has claimed that some Edo people are going to other parts of Nigeria to hire criminals for kidnapping, armed robbery, and other crimes in the state.
Mr Okpebholo made this statement while speaking to participants at the 2026 Ministers’ Conference. This event was organized by the Edo Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Wednesday in Benin.
He said the meeting aimed to discuss security issues in Edo and Nigeria. He pointed out that many reports on social media about insecurity are not true.
The governor mentioned that he got a report about an incident on Sapele Road. He quickly ordered security operatives to check it out, only to discover that it was false.
“Our people now recruit criminals to help them do the job. They will kidnap someone and hand them over to the people in the bush.
“Tomorrow you will see them driving expensive cars and building houses. How are they getting these things? They will tell you they are Yahoo Boys.
“They are this, they are that. If you hear that we have arrested someone, don’t come to beg me.
“Some reports on insecurity are just meant to bring this government down and give it a bad name, but it’s not that there is no insecurity. The false alarms are another issue in this country,” he said.
The governor added that there are volunteers now stationed in the forests to ensure criminals do not settle in Edo State.
He also asked the congregation to pray for President Bola Tinubu. He noted that the president’s decision to remove the fuel subsidy was necessary and is part of the reason behind the “infrastructural development currently going on across Edo.”
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