My foresight as council chairman helped check insecurity

From Tony Osauzo, Benin

Lawmaker representing Edo Central, Joseph Ikpea, has disclosed that the three security outposts he built in parts of Esan South-East Local Government Area when he was the chairman of the local government were what security agencies are now using to check insecurity in the area.

He disclosed this in a chat with journalists and explained that he has included maintenance of the facilities and other pro-people projects into the 2026 budget and pledged that he would ensure that the projects were all executed.

Senator Ikpea, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the district in next year’s election, commended the development efforts of Governor Monday Okpebholo and said he was also ensuring that all the inputs in the budget he presented as Senator before he became the governor were implemented.

“Before we were sworn in as chairmen, some money was saved for the Councils and this money, we were told, would be used for capital projects.

“I initiated capital projects that comprehensively covered a lot of things. Among them were security posts now being used to check insecurity and kidnapping in Edo central. If you are coming from Ubiaja, you will see one security post built before the river leading to Ewato because the road is lonely. I just felt like putting it up then, because we don’t know what tomorrow will look like. So, I built that.

“Then, I went before Ewato, I put one there. Then, I went to Ewohimi, if you are going to Onicha Ugbo, I put another one there. By the grace of God today that is what the army is using, that is where they are staying now,” Ikpea stated.

He said a provision was also in the budget of 2026 to maintain the facilities.

“When I was council chairman, there was no water. We were going to the prison yard in Ubiaja to fetch water but I built a borehole for the council and also acquired another source of electricity to power the council and the borehole,” he added.

He said his administration also built a magistrate court in Ubiaja from scratch to completion in addition to donating hospital equipment to all the health centres in the local government area.

Senator Ikpea further disclosed that as a member of the board of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), he attracted the renovation of public primary schools in the district and employment of 550 teachers into the state civil service.

He said since he was sworn-in in October 2025, he had been able to attract rehabilitation work in a primary school in Uromi through supplementary budget.