Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki has called on the Nigeria Army to establish a base in crime-prone areas, particularly the Benin – Auchi Road axis in the state.
He said this while receiving the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Farouk Yahaya and other senior officers of the Nigeria Army at the Government House in Benin City.
Obaseki, while expressing his responsibility to provide protection and security for residents of the state, explained the futility of the course, without the support of the security agencies.
He expressed that the growth of security situation in the state which includes kidnapping and robbery is because of the distance between the hot zones to where there is a military presence.
“First, l have to commend you and your men for the cooperation we’ve continued to enjoy from your end. Having said that, I want to add that we are having security challenges in the state such as kidnapping, especially between the Benin – Auchi axis.
“We have military formations in Edo South, also Auchi and Agenegbode both in Edo North Senatorial District.
“And because the 120 kilometres spaces between them do not have any military presence, it has been difficult for the military to respond either from the South or North when there is an incident.” He said.
Obaseki, while appealing to the military boss to respond to the request, noted that all the support needed for the set up of an operational base will be provided by the state government.
“While I appeal to Nigeria Army to heed our request, the state government will give all necessary support if the army can consider setting up a forward operating base between the distance of the North and South senatorial districts.
“This will help us cover the axis where we are beginning to experience a lot of kidnappings and robbery incidents. The 4 Brigade has been very helpful in terms of supporting our communities in crisis.
“We also appeal if they can assist us with a special squad to support our efforts in calming the restiveness we are seeing around communities largely because of land disputes. We have laws in place that will help us deal with these issues.
“But by the time some of these communities find out that we now also have heavily armed military personnel within their communities, peace will return to such areas.
“I want to say that we are very happy with you and we will continue to support you by providing some logistics to function optimally.”
Earlier, Lt. Gen. Yahaya had disclosed that he was in Benin on a working visit to formations and units, to interact with operatives as well as to motivate them for greater productivity.
He affirmed that the Nigerian Army will always respond when called upon, as it is one of her constitutional roles to aid civil authority when called upon to do so.
