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Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has claimed that insecurity in the state has fallen by about 95 per cent and kidnapping by 96 per cent.
He has also rejected a published report that his government spent ₦14.48 billion on security in the first nine months of 2026.
In an exclusive interview with Symphony Television, the governor said Edo once recorded violent incidents several times a week.
“Before we came in, the insecurity was very obvious,” he said. “Today it is not like that.”
He added that kidnapping cases have become so rare that residents and visitors no longer hear of them.
He gave an example of an abduction at a vegetable market in broad daylight. According to him, several people called him as it happened.
He said he phoned the Commissioner of Police and gave him 24 hours, then summoned security chiefs and told them to deliver results or be removed.
The suspects were arrested within the deadline, and one of the four was killed during the rescue.
Okpebholo said security agencies carry out weekly bush combing operations so that forests offer no cover, and that armoured personnel carriers and other equipment have been acquired.
He said plans to intensify policing of city centres are already in the pipeline. “Edo is no longer safe for them to stay,” he said.
On spending, the ₦14.48 billion figure was reported by Premium Times on November 3. The paper said it came from the state’s third quarter 2026 Budget Performance Report and covered security votes and security services.
It also reported that the Ministry of Public Security and Safety received no capital release in the period, although ₦250 million had been earmarked for its capital projects.
The governor said he saw the report in a newspaper but did not know its source. “First of all our budget is not even ₦14 billion. We had ₦8 billion,” he said.
“We have not even spent 4 billion.” He said he called the Accountant General, who produced the papers, and that actual spending is about ₦4 billion, well inside the approved ₦8 billion.
Neither the reduction in crime nor the spending has been independently verified.
Supporters are likely to argue that the lower spend shows efficiency and focus. Critics will want full disclosure of the security accounts and independent verification of the crime data.
Okpebholo credited the improvement to his personal involvement and refusal to tolerate failure.
He recalled that during the campaign, some opponents twisted his promise of security into a claim that he would provide insecurity.
He said he has indeed provided insecurity for criminals, who he insisted have no safe forest or town left in the state.
