PDP, Edo Govt Clash Over Rising Kidnapping, Violent Crimes

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has alleged that the Edo State government is only interested in serving its godfather while kidnapping and other crimes reign in the state.
A statement by Chris Nehikhare, Publicity Secretary, Edo PDP Caretaker Committee, said the state is now a haven for kidnappers and other criminal gangs.
“Edo State is in chaos, the people are under siege, and the Chief Security Officer of the State, Senator Monday Okpebholo, appears confused and completely incapable of managing the escalating insecurity.”
He said despite receiving N750m monthly in security votes, residents live in constant fear, and instead of utilizing these funds to tackle the worsening security crisis, he continues to squander them on godfathers, thugs, extravagance, and needless jamborees.
“We want to remind Senator Okpebholo that his first responsibility, no matter how bereft of integrity his mandate is, is to protect the lives and property of the Edo people, and on this, he has woefully failed.
Responding, Governor Monday Okpebholo said the PDP outcry is designed to mislead Edo people, scare off potential investors, and distract them from the undeniable security progress being made under Governor Monday Okpebholo’s administration.
The governor, in a statement by his spokesperson, Fred Itua, said “Edo State is not, and will never be, the so-called “capital of kidnapping and violent crimes, as Nehikhare maliciously claims.
“This is a dishonest fabrication from a party whose time in power was marked by gross incompetence, abject failure, and outright surrender to criminals.”
He alleged that the total collapse of security under the Obaseki-led PDP government reached its zenith when the Chairman of the party in Edo State, Anthony Aziegbemi, was brazenly kidnapped in the heart of the city—GRA, Benin.
While calling on the PDP members to bury their heads in shame for trying to mislead the public and scare investors away, he said Edo state under Governor Okpebholo is on the path to security and progress
“No amount of politically motivated falsehoods from a failed PDP propaganda machine can erase the progress being made by Governor Okpebholo,” he said.

PDP, Edo Govt Clash Over Rising Kidnapping, Violent Crimes is first published on The Whistler Newspaper