The monthly Edo State environmental sanitation exercise for July 2025, held on Saturday, was marred by reports of harassment, intimidation, and assault allegedly perpetrated by thugs hired by officials of the Oredo Local Government Council to enforce compliance within the local government area.
A total of 78 alleged offenders were arrested by a team comprising thugs, environmental health officers, police officers, and personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
Some of the alleged offenders were manhandled, beaten, and left with injuries before being taken to the mobile court sitting at Urokpota Hall. There, some were convicted and given the option of paying a ₦5,000 fine or completing three hours of community service as ruled by the presiding magistrate.
Others, mainly minors and those found not guilty of any offence, were cautioned and subsequently released.
One of the victims, Mrs. Violet Akhere, said she was traveling to Esan after receiving news of her father’s passing the previous day when she was assaulted and dragged into an enforcement bus by the thugs. Her husband, Desmond Akhere, reportedly sustained a deep cut on his nose during the altercation.
Speaking about her experience, she said:
“They stopped me at the Benin Airport second gate. They didn’t even ask who I was or where I was going. They just stopped and bundled me into the bus. If you want to arrest somebody, aren’t you supposed to identify yourself and explain the offence committed? Why does Oredo Local Government choose to use thugs to harass people?
I was traveling with three bags, and they pushed everything into the bus while I was being dragged on the ground by those boys. Now I can’t find my bags anymore. Look at my husband—he has injuries on his nose.”
Another alleged offender, 27-year-old Esohe Aigbe, accused the officers of extortion, brutality, and harassment.
She
said she was picked up at her home near Ogba Zoo while trying to intervene in a situation involving a young boy who was being pursued by the enforcement team.“I was arrested at my home because they were chasing a small boy who was trying to open his mother’s shop. The boy ran into our house, and they followed him inside. When I tried to tell them to leave the small boy alone, they started fighting me in my own house. That was how they arrested me and brought me to court.”
Esohe was later released by the magistrate after narrating her story in court.
A particularly distressing case involved four underage girls. Fourteen-year-old Gladys Joseph told the court she was arrested in front of her house on Obakhawaye Street, Benin City, while still in her nightdress.
Her three friends, who insisted on following her after her arrest, were also taken into custody. The magistrate later cautioned and discharged all four girls.
When contacted, the Director of Environmental Health Services, Oredo Local Government Council, Mrs. Blessing Ehiator, acknowledged that similar incidents had occurred during past exercises. She advised members of the public to be vigilant and to identify genuine enforcement officers by their gate passes.
“We had an experience like that the last time, where many people were robbed of their money and phones, and some were even brought to the Oredo Local Government Council Secretariat before being dumped.
That is why we now issue gate passes to those working with us. We want to educate the public that some of those involved are not part of our team. If anybody comes to you without a gate pass, know that the person is not working with us. We don’t want anybody to fall victim.”
As outrage grows over the alleged misconduct, residents are calling on the Edo State Government to intervene and prevent further abuses under the guise of environmental enforcement.
