The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State and social media influencer, Harrison Gwamnishu, have berated the Edo State Government over what they described as its failure to effectively tackle insecurity, particularly the rising cases of kidnapping in the state.
Gwamnishu, who is the founder of the Safe City Volunteer Foundation, criticised the government and state security agencies for what he called their “repeated failure to respond to calls for collaboration” during rescue operations.
“Two weeks ago, Aisha was kidnapped at Igbira Camp, Auchi, Edo State. Thankfully, she regained her freedom last night. Sadly, we couldn’t move in to capture her abductors because the State Security Agencies and the Edo State Government have repeatedly failed to respond to our calls for collaboration,” Gwamnishu said.
He explained that the victim, Aisha Wahab, was kidnapped in Auchi and later released in Okpella, a long distance she was allegedly forced to trek alongside her abductors.
“Certain technical equipment required for our rescue operations can only be deployed with official authorisation. Unfortunately, despite repeated efforts to reach the Edo State Government and the Commissioner of Police, we have been unable to get their response,” he added.
According to him, the group had to withdraw from the operation and return to their base in Delta State, “where we have full support from the Police, Military, and Government to operate effectively.”
Gwamnishu thanked Nigerians who supported Aisha’s family during the ordeal and called for stronger cooperation between citizens and government.
He urged the Edo State Government to immediately intervene and coordinate operations to apprehend the kidnappers, insisting that “lives are at stake.”
On its part, the Edo State PDP, in a press statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Dan Osa-Ogbegie, said Aisha’s ordeal “further exposed the complete dereliction of duty by the Monday Okpebholo-led administration.”
Osa-Ogbegie said the PDP in Edo State joins millions of grateful Edo people in thanking Almighty God for the safe release of Miss Aisha Wahab.
“We salute the swift solidarity and compassion of patriotic Edo citizens and groups who intervened while the government slept,” the statement read.
He accused the government of abandoning its core duty of protecting lives, saying: “While the victim’s aged mother cried out publicly for help from well-meaning Nigerians, the Edo State Government turned a blind eye, offering not even the courtesy of empathy or official intervention.”
He also lambasted the administration for “squandering public funds on exotic vehicles for political godfathers and hangers-on” while ordinary citizens lived in fear.
“While families are daily thrown into anguish by kidnappers, Governor Okpebholo continues to squander public funds on the purchase of exotic vehicles for political godfathers, House of Assembly members, and other hangers-on. This obscene indulgence… is a crying shame and a mark of moral decay in government,” the PDP said.
The opposition party reminded the governor that “governance is a continuum” and warned that Edo people were “running out of patience.
“If the administration cannot, within the shortest possible time, demonstrate capacity to protect lives and property, citizens may have no choice but to adopt lawful self-defence measures,” the PDP stated.
The party urged Governor Okpebholo to “stop the charade, abandon propaganda, and get to work,” adding: “Governance is not theatre; it is a sacred duty. Edo people deserve security, dignity, and protection, not excuses.”
Reacting, the Edo State Government dismissed the criticisms, describing them as “cheap propaganda” aimed at undermining the administration of Governor Monday Okpebholo.
The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Prince Kassim Afegbua, accused the PDP and its supporters of politicising security issues.
“When a political party is manifestly bereft of ideas on how to handle security issues, it’s a no-brainer that even a doorknob would cotton on to their ineptitude,” Afegbua said.
He lashed out at PDP Publicity Secretary, Dan Osa-Ogbegie, describing him as a “beer parlour patron” who “knows nothing about rescuing kidnapping and hostage-taking victims.”
Afegbua maintained that the APC-led government under Okpebholo was “on top of the security situation in Edo State,” adding that the rescue of Aisha Wahab was achieved through “discreet tactics and coordinated intelligence.”
“Security tactics don’t allow for noise and fulmination, especially when kidnapping is involved. The security agents and our crack team of detectives applied all that was necessary and propitious to geo-locate her, then followed through on all the leads, and ensured that she was released unscathed,” he said.
The commissioner accused the PDP of exploiting Aisha’s kidnapping to score political points, even alleging that opposition figures might be “the architects of kidnapping activities in Edo State.”
“Before the last gubernatorial election in the state, PDP chieftains and leaders had publicly declared that they would burn down Nigeria, nay Edo State, if they lost the election.
It would then be safe to state in unmistakable terms that leaders of the opposition PDP must be the masterminds of the kidnapping activities in Edo State,” Afegbua stated.
He said the government had alerted security agencies to monitor PDP leaders closely “to unravel the conspiracy to make Edo State ungovernable,” insisting that the administration had made significant progress in securing the state.
