From Moshood Karim
At first glance, the lush greenery of Edo’s northern forests seems serene, a vast natural belt where farmers tend crops and cattle graze. But deep inside the shadows of Ekeke Erah Forest in Owan East Local Government Area lies a different reality, one of fear, gunfire, and the chilling presence of strange elements bent on tormenting local communities.
The Edo State Special Security Squad, codenamed Operation Flush Out Cultists and Kidnappers, recently pushed into this territory, trekking more than five kilometres into hostile terrain. What they found was disturbing: five active camps, fires still burning, food abandoned in haste, and trails suggesting the criminals had only just fled.
“We discovered five camps, with clear indications that their occupants had only just fled,” said squad member Eribo Ewanta, his face hardened from hours in the forest.
“We engaged the suspects in a serious gun duel at a riverbank, but they escaped deeper into the forest. Their camps have been dismantled and destroyed. Edo State will no longer provide safe haven for criminal elements.” He vowed.
For villagers nearby, the discovery only confirmed what they had whispered for months. “We cannot farm freely anymore,” lamented a farmer from Owan East who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal. “You enter the bush and you are never sure if you will return home. Kidnappers strike at will. People pay ransom or flee the community.”
A young teacher, (name withheld), who was abducted on her way home from school told Uptown Press via WhatsAPP chat: “They blindfolded me and tied my hands,” she recalled.
“For three days, I was kept in the forest with others. We heard gunshots at night and strange languages spoken among them. They demanded ₦5 million. My family sold land to raise part of it before they released me. Even now, I cannot sleep without fear.”
Security sources suggest these camps are not ordinary hideouts but part of a larger, organised network of kidnappers and possibly armed herdsmen who have carved out sanctuaries across Edo forests. Evidence of cattle grazing found by the squad raised further alarm about alliances between kidnapping rings and rogue pastoralists.
An elderly cocoa farmer from Owan East spoke in hushed tones: “I went to the farm with my son. Suddenly, men with guns came out. They said if we ran, they would kill us. They took my son. We begged, we cried. We paid a ransom before he was freed. Many farmers no longer go to their farms. Hunger is coming.”
The menace has exacted a devastating toll on farming communities. Croplands are abandoned, harvests delayed, and rural economies weakened. For Edo State, where Governor Monday Okpebholo has prioritised food security and economic growth, the incursions threaten more than livelihoods, they threaten the State’s future stability.
Governor Okpebholo has won praise for his dogged support of the Special Security Squad. But security sources warn that without sustained investment in modern surveillance technology, adequate weapons, and training for security operatives, the fight could drag on with communities bearing the brunt.
Beyond the gun battles, there is also a cultural war to be fought. Cultism and the “get-rich-quick” syndrome among disillusioned youths remain pipelines into crime, fuelling the very menace the State is battling. Sources say security strategies must be paired with aggressive education and reorientation campaigns if the tide is to be turned.
For now, the forests remain contested territory. The Special Squad vows to keep pressing forward, dismantling camps and chasing criminal elements deeper into the bush. But the farmers and villagers of Edo North know the stakes better than anyone. Each dawn brings both the hope of a harvest and the dread of a sudden attack.
And until the foreign invaders and their local collaborators are flushed out, Edo’s forests will remain more than green landscapes, they will be battlegrounds where survival itself is at stake.
Moshood Karim is the publisher of Uptown Press Nigeria.
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