Edo Governor: Some Reports On Insecurity Are False, To Bring Tinubu Down

Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has claimed that some Edo residents now go to a certain part of Nigeria to recruit criminals for kidnapping, armed robbery among other crimes in the state.

Mr Okpebholo stated this while addressing participants at the 2026 Ministers’ Conference, organised by the Edo Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Wednesday in Benin.

According to him, the gathering is to discuss insecurity in Edo and Nigeria. He said most of the reports on social media on insecurity are false.

He said he received a report about an incident along Sapele Road and directed security to immediately storm the area, only to find out that it was not true.

“Our people now recruit criminals to help them do the job, they will kidnap somebody and hand over to the people in the bush”

“Tomorrow you will see them driving expensive cars, building houses, how are they getting these things, they will tell you they are Yahoo Boys.

“They are these, they are that, if you hear that we have arrested somebody, don’t come to beg me.

“Some reports on insecurity are just to bring this government down, to give this government a bad name but it’s not that there is no insecurity, the false alarms are another issue in this country,” he said.

The governor said there are volunteers who are now positioned in the forests just to make sure criminals do not settle down in Edo.

He, however, requested for a special prayer for President Bola Tinubu from the congregation, noting that the president’s decision on fuel subsidy removal was necessary, and the reason behind the “infrastructural development currently going on across Edo”.

27 Boko Haram Fighters Killed In Borno

The air component of Joint Task Force Operation Hadin Kai has neutralised 27 terrorists in separate air interdiction missions targeting terrorist enclaves in the Southern and Northern Tumbus areas of Borno.

An operational report of the Nigerian Air Force, made available to the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday, indicated that the strikes were conducted following Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions across the theatre.

According to the report, air assets comprising Dragon and ISR platforms conducted an air interdiction mission at Dawoshe, a known terrorist enclave in the Southern Tumbus area, at about 12:40 am on June 10.

The report stated that terrorists’ vehicles were sighted during aerial surveillance and were subsequently engaged by the aircraft.

It added that “Battle Damage Assessment revealed that the vehicles were destroyed, while 12 terrorists were neutralised during the operation.”

The report further disclosed that the air component conducted a precision strike on terrorist positions at Metele in the Northern Tumbus area of Guzamala Local Government Area of Borno on the same day.

It stated that “post-strike assessments, supported by BDA and Human Intelligence (HUMINT), confirmed that 15 terrorists were neutralised during the operation.”

Terrorists Ambush Troops, Kill 6 Soldiers In Kaduna

Nigerian Army officer and six soldiers were killed on Monday evening when troops came under a deadly ambush by suspected terrorists during a patrol operation in the Rigachikun area of Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The attack occurred amid intensified military operations that have, in recent weeks, significantly degraded the activities of armed groups operating along the Kaduna-Zaria corridor and surrounding communities.

Security sources told PRNigeria that the troops had embarked on a routine operational patrol following a series of successful clearance operations that resulted in the neutralisation of several terrorist kingpins and their foot soldiers in the area.

According to the sources, the soldiers were returning from the mission when they were ambushed by heavily armed assailants, triggering a fierce gun battle.

Although the troops reportedly fought back and inflicted casualties on the attackers, the ambush claimed the lives of one officer and six soldiers.

The incident has come as a setback following recent successes recorded by troops operating under the 1 Division Nigerian Army in the area.