Adekunbi Ero
The Senator representing Edo Central Senatorial District, Joseph Ikpea, has challenged all the local government council chairmen in Nigeria to adopt homegrown security initiatives suitable for their environments to checkmate the menace of banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes confronting the nation.
Senator Ikpea, who suggested this in Benin City, Edo State capital, while speaking with journalists, expressed worry over worsening insecurity in the country and its seemingly intractable nature.
The senator said the three security outposts he built in parts of Esan South-East Local Government Area of Edo State when he was the chairman of the local government council, are what security agencies are using today to check insecurity in the senatorial district.
While stating that he built the security outposts at a time security was relatively high, the federal lawmaker disclosed that he had injected into the 2026 budget, the maintenance of the facilities and other pro-people projects, and pledged that he would ensure that the projects were all executed.
Ikpea, who emerged the senatorial candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2027 National Assembly election, lauded the development efforts of Governor Monday Okpebholo. He said he would also ensure that all the governor’s inputs in the budget he presented as a senator before he became the governor were implemented.
According to him, “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 Ewatto because the road is lonely. I just felt then let me put it. We don’t know what tomorrow will look like. So, I built that.
“Then I went before Ewatto, I put one there. Then I went to Ewohimi, if you are going to Oniocha 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.
“Security, like politics, is local. All local government council chairmen must look inwards, and device means and ways of effectively checkmating the activities of the criminals operating in their localities. This is what we did by that local initiative of constructing those security outposts at a time insecurity was not a big challenge.” Ikpea said
He said a provision is also in the budget of 2026 to maintain the facilities.
“When I was chairman of council, there was no water in the council secretariat. We were going to the prison yard 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 stated.
Ikpea added that his administration also built a magistrate court in Ubiaja which was built from scratch to completion in addition to donating hospital equipment to all the health centres in the local government area.
He said as a member of the Board of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), he attracted the renovation of public primary schools in the senatorial district and facilitated the employment of 550 teachers into the state civil service.
Senator Ikpea disclosed that 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.
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