Edo State Special Security Squad has dismantled five suspected kidnappers’ camps in Edo North Senatorial District during a major operation in the Ekeke Erah Forest, Owan East Local Government Area.
Governor Monday Okpebholo’s Chief Press Secretary, Monday Itua, said in a statement that the raids were conducted on Thursday and Friday by the Governor’s Principal Security Officer, working with the Nigerian Army, local vigilantes, and other security agencies.
Operatives trekked nearly five kilometres into the forest between Afuze and Ora, where they uncovered camps believed to be in active use. Evidence included fires still burning and food left behind by fleeing occupants.
According to a squad member, Eribo Ewanta, the operation escalated into a gun battle at a riverbank as suspected kidnappers tried to evade capture. Although the suspects escaped deeper into the forest, their camps were destroyed.
“We are on their trail. Edo State will no longer provide a haven for criminal elements,” Ewanta said, adding that traces of cattle grazing in the forest suggested possible links to armed herdsmen.
He assured residents that the exercise was part of ongoing efforts to rid the state of kidnappers and violent groups, stressing that the governor’s directive was to relentlessly pursue criminal networks.
Okpebholo, who launched the Special Security Squad in 2024 under the codename Operation Flush Out Cultists and Kidnappers, has made security a central policy focus. The squad has since conducted raids, arrested suspects, demolished hideouts, and targeted cult leaders.
The latest operation comes amid persistent insecurity in Edo and neighbouring states, particularly along the Benin-Auchi axis, where kidnappings and cult-related violence remain major threats. In September, police rescued 16 abducted travellers along the highway, while earlier in the year the squad arrested 18 suspected kidnappers and armed robbers near an army checkpoint.