Tag: Edo State

Operatives of the Edo State Police Command have arrested a 31-year old man, Joshua Osaigbovo, for allegedly killing his girlfriend and subsequently burying her in a shallow grave.

It was the first time the late girlfriend, identified as Osato Festus Edogiaweria, aged 21, visited him.

She was was reported missing April 2025 until Police detectives cracked the case and smoked out the suspect from his hiding place.

Edo Police spokesman, Moses Joel Yamu, in a statement, said it was mother of the deceased, Mrs. Ojo, that filed a missing person report at the Aduwawa Police Division on April 25, 2025.

 According to the statement, “Operatives of the Family Unit, through painstaking investigation and technical intelligence, arrested one Joshua Osaigbovo, 31 yrs, a resident of Iyanomon community in Ikpoba-Okha LGA in connection with the crime on 18th June, 2025.”

Read Also: Owo attack: Ondo demolishes Akeredolu’s Memorial Park

“During interrogation, the suspect confessed to inviting Osato to his residence on April 27. An altercation broke out between the two, during which Osato fell, hit her head on the ground, and died.

“Osaigbovo further confessed to taking the young woman’s body in a wheelbarrow to a nearby bush, where he buried her in a shallow grave a few meters from his home.

“On June 20, 2025, Osaigbovo led police operatives to the burial site in the Iyanomon community. The remains of Osato Festus were exhumed following all necessary procedures. The suspect is expected to be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.” 

Suspected cases of diphtheria have increased in Edo State amid fears of dearth of vaccines.

It was gathered that the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) is overwhelmed with patients with referral cases of suspected diphtheria.

Though the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Cyril Oshiomhole, is yet to comment on the number of deaths recorded so far, sources at UBTH said more persons have died from the disease since the two recorded last week.

A doctor at the hospital said the hospital was overwhelmed with patients.

He said the patients were referred on suspicion of having diphtheria.

Spokesman for UBTH, Uwaila Joshua, could not be reached for comments as his cell phone was switched off.

Meanwhile, the government said it has activated an emergency public health response in response to the outbreak of diphtheria.

Read Also: Onyema hails Tinubu’s aviation reforms, says Nigerian Airlines can now access dry leasing opportunities

It said Governor Monday Okpebholo has deployed resources and expertise to arrest the situation as well as safeguard the health of residents.

Chief Press Secretary to Okpebholo, Fred Itua, said the Governor was personally coordinating surveillance and monitoring efforts to ensure a swift and effective containment of the disease.

According to him, “Hospitals across the state have been placed on high alert and instructed to intensify case detection, prompt isolation, and proper clinical management of suspected cases in accordance with national and international guidelines.

“Medical personnel are being briefed and equipped to respond appropriately, while the state’s disease surveillance network is being expanded to trace and monitor potential contacts swiftly.

“In addition, Governor Okpebholo has convened a multi-sectoral emergency meeting with representatives from the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), World Health Organisation (WHO), traditional rulers, religious leaders, civil society organisations, and community development groups to harmonise efforts and strengthen the response framework.”

More than 74 houses have been destroyed and several lives lost in a protracted communal crisis affecting Ijaw communities in Ovia South-West Local Government Area of Edo State.

The conflict, which began in Okomu, has since spread to neighbouring communities including Agbede, Oweike, and Okorodudu, despite earlier interventions by the Ijaw National Congress.

In a bid to restore peace, Ijaw traditional rulers from Ondo, Edo, Delta, and Bayelsa States convened a high-level stakeholders’ meeting in Benin City, where they appointed Chief Sunny Ajele to lead a resolution committee tasked with ending the violence.

The monarchs called on all factions to lay down arms and embrace dialogue in the interest of peace and community development.

Present at the meeting were notable traditional rulers including HRM William Ogoba (Pere of Gbaramatu Kingdom), HRM Zacheus Egbunu (Pere of Arogbo Kingdom), HRM Joel Ibane (Pere of Iduwini Kingdom), HRM Capt. King Frank Okiakpe (Pere of Gbaraun Kingdom), HRM Stephen Oyabebefa Ebikeme (Pere of Poromor Kingdom), HRM Godwin Ogunoyibo (Pere of Olodiama), HRM Gbebokedi Ajiroba (Pere of Tubutoru), and HRM Roman Ikiyouseigha (Pere of Furupagha).

Speaking after the committee’s inauguration, Chief Ajele said the peace panel would engage all critical stakeholders to identify the root causes of the conflict and recommend lasting solutions.

According to Ajiele, “This crisis has been lingering for over three years now without a solution. INC came but couldn’t do much. Prominent ijaw people tried but were also frustrated out. The major community is Okomu but the crisis escalated to other areas where they killed some people and burned down houses including lawrence’s boys.

Read Also: Ijaw protest poor infrastructure in Edo community

“In Agbede community, they burnt over 30 houses. In Winke community, they destroyed about 18 houses and in Okorodudu, six houses were burnt. Most security men are afraid to go to the waterside. That is where a certain militant leader came from.

“But traditional rulers told the militant leader to surrender his tools which he never did. The military and the state’s vigilante invaded his community, destroyed his property, and killed his boy. He managed to escape but came back with a reprisal attack on those he fingered to have let out his secrets to the government amongst his kinsmen and this eventually escalated.

“What we want to do now as a committee is to bring them together under one roof to live as one and work with security agents to do a thorough work in the waterside areas to ensure peace return to the Okomu community”.

He further said the divide and rule tactics by immediate past administration exacerbated the crisis.

Hundreds of Ijaws in Gelegele Community, Ovia Northeast Local Government Area of Edo State yesterday protested the lack of basic infrastructure in the oil rich community.

The protesters said there were no motorable roads, hospitals, and schools in Gelegele community.

They also issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government, Edo State government, and oil companies in the community to respond to their demands or shut down operations of all oil firms.

Placards carried by the protesters had inscriptions such as: “No road to Gelegele,” “Our secondary school is dilapidated,” “Tantita come to our aid,” “There is no NDDC project in Gelegele,” and “Say no to gas flaring in Gelegele.”

Chairman, Gelegele Executive Council, Mr. Omaghomi Olu-Derimon, said several Ijaw communities had been cut off from the rest of the state due to bad roads.

He said there were no functional hospitals, adding that the only secondary school in the community was an eyesore with no chairs and teachers.

Omaghomi queried why the community haD not benefited from NDDC projects.

According to him, “We are here not because we are happy or celebrating, but because we are mourning. We want Nigerians and the world to know how we feel about oppression, injustice, and the subjugation of our rights by the federal, state, and local governments—successive administrations alike.

“The Gelegele story is a pathetic one. As you can see, we are standing behind a gas flare. I want the United Nations, the Nigerian Government, the Edo State Government, and the local government to know that this gas flaring has been ongoing for 63 years, since oil was discovered in Gelegele Community in 1963. We have been roasted by this gas flare. Neither the federal nor the state governments pay any attention to the pains of the Gelegele people.’’

Read Also: Tinubu has fulfilled Abiola’s vision for a democratic Nigeria — Shettima

“But today, we are rising. We are saying that our education system has been destroyed, everything that is dear to us has been destroyed. It is pathetic that we don’t have teachers in our schools, despite being an oil-producing community—home to the largest forest reserve in West Africa, the Gelegele Forest Reserve. We have held more than three press briefings, yet the government remains adamant about renovating our only secondary school. As we speak, we are cut off from the rest of the state. Gelegele Community is the gateway to over 300 Ijaw riverine communities, yet there is no road.

“Today, there is no NDDC project in our community, despite being an oil-producing area and hosting the first indigenous oil company in Nigeria, Dubri Oil Limited.

“People are dying in the community because there is no doctor in the health clinic, no nurses, and before a sick person can be rushed from Gelegele to Benin, they often die on the way due to the poor state of the roads.

“We have lost over 500 persons due to inadequate health facilities. Our women have no health support or facilities.

“Life has been very difficult for the youths, who struggle daily to make ends meet with no support despite living in an oil-producing community.”

Olu-Derimon also regretted the community’s lack of political representation.

“We don’t have a representative, we have no voice in Edo State. No Gelegele person is in the state House of Assembly or Executive Council. When this administration came to power, it inaugurated the board of the Edo State Oil and Gas Producing Area Development Commission (EDSOGPADEC), yet no one from Gelegele was appointed, despite our status as an oil-producing community. We bear the brunt; we are roasted day and night, yet we do not feel the benefits of our crude oil—the gold mine.”

“If these issues are not addressed within 14 days—two weeks—we will have no alternative but to shut down the operations of all oil companies working between Gelegele Community and the Gelegele Forest Reserve.

“We want to inform the Ijaw Nation, the Ijaw Youth Congress, and other critical stakeholders in the Ijaw nation about this 14-day ultimatum. Should anything happen to us, the federal, state, and local governments should be held responsible. It is time to define our destiny,” he said.

“We also want to inform the Minister of Regional Planning that we can no longer tolerate marginalisation. While things are going well elsewhere, we who are suffering, see no benefit.”

Edo State foremost transport company, the Edo Line, is set to start operation on June 27 after 15 years of comatose.

The transport firm established by the administration of  the late Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia became grounded in 2010.

Governor Monday Okpebholo announced the date after an inspection of work at the New Edo Line station.

Read Also: Politicians exploiting Nigeria’s ethnic, religious fractionalization – Bishop

The Edo governor, who expressed satisfaction with the preparations, said new buses were ready.

He said: “I’ve just come to look at the work that is going on here, in the New Edo Line station. The vehicles are ready. Everything is set. We are trying to see how we can commence. The idea is to come and look at the level of preparation of our commencement.”

Managing Director, Edo State Transport Authority, Oligbe Henshaw, said the terminal would be ready before June 27.

Edo State government has sent 70 doses of anti-diphtheria vaccines to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) to prevent further deaths from the disease.

Two persons died of the infection last week in UBTH.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Cyril Oshiomhole, who spoke after donating the vaccines to management of UBTH, said some doses were obtained from neighbouring Delta State.

Read Also: NSCDC boss asks Mining Marshals Commander to withdraw petition

Dr. Oshiomhole stated that what was worrisome was that the disease was going beyond expected scope.

He said vaccinated persons were found to be infected including those beyond age five who were not expected to be infected.

According to him, “We are working in collaboration with UBTH and NCDC (National Centre for Disease Control), we have spoken with the DG of NCDC and he graciously released 70 doses of anti-Diphtheria and we also reached out to Delta State Ministry of Health and they have been to give us another 20 doses.