No fewer than 11 suspected members of an organized kidnapping syndicate have been taken into custody by the Edo State Police Command following the violent protests in Ekpoma, the administrative center of Esan West Local Government Area, which were fueled by persistent abductions in the community.
The suspects were arrested in the Ubiaja axis of the state during a bush-combing operation around Akwocha Camp and adjoining forest corridors, led by the Divisional Police Officer in collaboration with the Nigerian Military and the Edo State Security Service (ESSC).
The operation followed intelligence gathered through aerial surveillance by the police drone squad, which identified the concealed forest as a suspected kidnapping and logistics base.
Exhibits recovered during the operation include 24 Dane guns, 17 cutlasses, three battle axes, gunpowder, torchlights, mobile phones, solar panels, assorted charms, one Daylong motorcycle, and ₦209,700 in cash, among other items.
In a separate operation, an 18-year-old girl, Obehi Odine, was arrested in Ekpoma for allegedly staging her own kidnapping and demanding a ransom of Ten Million Naira (₦10,000,000).
Odine confessed to the crime, admitting that the incident was deliberately fabricated to extort money from her family. She was apprehended following a report of a suspected kidnapping along Old INEC Road, Ekpoma, received at around noon on January 12, 2026.
The exercise was carried out under the supervision of the newly posted DPO at Ekpoma, CSP Tomofe Nwabueze, just hours after approval by the Commissioner of Police, Edo State Command, Monday Agbonika. The DPO assumed office after the commissioner ordered the reorganization of the Ekpoma Division in response to protests over rising kidnapping incidents in the area.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police has warned members of the public against filing false kidnapping reports or engaging in other deceptive acts.
According to him, such actions waste critical security resources, divert attention from genuine emergencies, create unnecessary panic, and undermine public confidence. He emphasized that anyone caught will be prosecuted accordingly.
The commissioner further reiterated the command’s resolve to sustain technology-driven policing, aggressive forest patrols, and intelligence-led operations to dismantle criminal networks across the state.
Members of the public are encouraged to continue supporting the police with timely and credible information through the following lines: Emergency Control Room: 08077773721, 08037646272; Public Complaints Bureau (PCB): 08150999335; and Complaints Response Unit (CRU): 08100389992.
