The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has said his government adopted a citizen-driven policing model, leveraging technology to tackle insecurity in the state.

Obaseki, while speaking to journalists in Benin City, said the government, in collaboration with all security agencies in the state, has enhanced security across all Edo communities, ensuring the safety of people and businesses in the state.

He said, “What we have done in security is to involve the citizens. My role as Governor is to work with everybody in the security space so we always insist that all security agencies must collaborate and work together and read from the same page. So, the collaboration is effective. The police get back-up from the DSS and the military and all the other agencies.

“The other thing we have done is to have proper governance of security. We developed a security information system, where every incident that occurs in Edo State is reported and recorded and investigated. On a monthly basis, we can track the number of kidnappings, where it occurred and how it was done.

“We can track the number of homicides, armed robberies and fire incidents, among others. We have security information, which gives us a clear picture of what’s going on with crime and incidents; where to focus resources on and we realised that the federal security agencies just don’t have the reach to man the state.”

The governor further noted, “Don’t forget that in Edo State, in the Benin Kingdom, we have always had a traditional security structure that works. We have fallen back on that structure, where in every quarter, there is an arrangement. The head of the quarter is the Enogie.

“We have our youths, who are mobilised to protect homes, support each other and make an effort to secure their communities. What we have done is to go on to reawaken that system and make it the vigilante network and integrate them into the security system of the state.

“Today, we have vigilantes in the communities – whether it is in the markets that have decided to set up their own security arrangements or communities or neighbourhoods, we have them all registered and we are training them. We determine the kind of arms they are holding, get them registered and also give them radio communicators to report incidents. Nobody will know a community or area better than those who live there.”