In the past month, there have been reports of kidnappings and killings in Edo State and these reports have culminated in the kidnap of the Managing Director of Ogba Zoo, Dr. Andy Ehanire, the brutal murder of University of Benin Engineering professor, Prof Paul Otasowie and the kidnap of Edo State-born musical figure, Osayomore Joseph and these incidents have piqued the concerns of the Edo people within and outside the state.
In light of these, Indigenes of the state, stormed Abuja on Monday, calling for the removal of the State’s Commissioner of Police, Mr. Haliru Gwandu. The protesters, who stormed the National Assembly and the Police Command in Abuja, lamented that while the Executive Governor of the State, Godwin Obaseki, and the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, were working round the clock to encourage investments in the state, the
“CP has refused to support the government of Edo State in this effort.”
The group, in their protest letter addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari and signed by the Coordinator of the Edo State Concerned Citizens, noted that
“While previous Police Commissioners posted to the state had done everything possible to check the activities of criminals that operate in these well-known flashpoints/areas to a minimum and tolerable level using available intelligence reports, we have long noticed a lethargic approach and rather nonchalant attitude by the current state Police Commissioner, Gwandu.”
The Police command in the state, on its part, has said it was making considerable progress towards securing the release of musical figure, Joseph Osayomore, and Mr. Andy Ehanire, who were recently kidnapped and urged the people to remain calm.
The group which led the protests decried the insistence of the Commissioner of Police in the state to hold on to his office even after having been posted out of the command about three months ago as they claimed. The group pleaded with the Inspector General of Police to come to their aid and remove/replace the current Commissioner of Police.
