In a bid to curb the rising tide of cultism, Governor Godwin Obaseki has announced that the State Security Council will convene a meeting with leaders of tertiary institutions, youth organizations, religious groups, and other key stakeholders to devise sustainable solutions to the issue.
This announcement was made during the State Security Council’s monthly meeting held at the Government House in Benin City on Tuesday.
The governor stated that the recurring theme of the Security Council meeting was the issue of cultism. As a result, the council has decided to organize a roundtable discussion in the coming weeks with the heads of higher education institutions, youth groups, religious organizations, and security agencies to address the issue of cultism in the state’s educational institutions.
“Cultism is a significant concern, and it is often associated with drug abuse and violent crimes. We are not satisfied with the current progress in addressing this issue. The Council intends to tackle it by engaging in dialogue with the groups most affected by it,” Obaseki emphasized.
He further added, “When we compare the current crime data with the previous year’s data, there is a noticeable decrease in crime rates. This downward trend indicates that our interventions, in collaboration with all our security agencies in the State, are effective.
“We have made significant strides in establishing a State Residency Identity database for our citizens. We are in discussions with the National Identity Agency, which has nearly 2.5 million records of Edo citizens. We plan to sign an agreement with them to collaborate and obtain all the data as we launch our own Identity Card. In return, we will assist them in registering the 2.5 million Edo citizens who are not yet included in the National Identity Scheme.”
Representing the Edo State Police Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Millar Dantawaye, stated that crime rates in the State have significantly decreased. He noted, “Crimes such as kidnapping, murder, armed robbery, and other serious crimes have decreased due to our collaboration with other security agencies.
“Security agencies have conducted extensive searches of the bushes, patrols, and the state is safe and has seen a significant reduction in crimes.”
