The Edo State Police Command has stepped up its offensive against kidnappers and other criminal gangs, taking the battle deep into the forests where suspected criminals are believed to have established hideouts.
The latest operation, which has been sustained across parts of the state, followed a six-week forest-combing exercise around Ekiadolor in Ovia North-East Local Government Area.
The operation was led by heavily armed personnel from the Police Mobile Force (PMF) Squadrons 5 in Benin City and 82 in Uromi, who pushed deep into difficult forest terrain in search of suspected criminal camps.
Commander of PMF Squadron 5, Benin City, ACP Olayinka Saheed, said the strategy was aimed at preventing kidnappers from turning the forests into permanent bases from which they could launch attacks on surrounding communities.
According to him, the police are deliberately taking the fight beyond major roads and residential areas to locations where criminal groups may be seeking refuge.
“The fight against crime must go beyond the highways and residential communities to the forest locations where criminal elements are believed to be seeking refuge,” Saheed said.
The operation has also brought technology into the difficult terrain, with surveillance drones deployed to provide aerial coverage and monitor areas that ground troops may struggle to reach.
Saheed explained that the aerial surveillance was giving operatives additional intelligence, helping them identify suspicious movements and better understand the vast and often inaccessible forest landscape.
Rather than treating the exercise as a one-time operation, the police command said it would maintain pressure on criminal elements by continuing patrols, surveillance and targeted searches of locations considered potential hideouts.
The broader objective, the command said, is to dismantle criminal camps, deny kidnappers safe havens and make it increasingly difficult for violent gangs to use Edo’s forests as operational bases.
The sustained presence of security personnel is also expected to provide reassurance to communities located close to the forest areas, particularly residents who may have been living under the threat of kidnapping and other violent crimes.
The intensified forest operation comes amid wider security efforts in Edo involving intelligence-led policing, patrols and raids targeting suspected criminal locations.
The police have consequently appealed to residents, especially those living in forest communities, to remain vigilant and share credible information with security agencies.
For the command, the message is clear: the search for kidnappers will not stop at the edge of the road. Security operatives intend to follow suspected criminals into the difficult terrain where they have sought cover—and keep the pressure on until those hideouts are no longer safe havens.
