Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo has appealed to the Nigerian Army to set up a base in crime-prone areas in the state, especially on the Benin-Auchi road axis.

Mr Obaseki made the appeal while hosting the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Farouk Yahaya, who led other senior officers on a courtesy visit to Edo Government House on Tuesday.

“We are having security challenges in the state such as kidnapping, especially between the Benin–Auchi axis. We have military formations in Edo South, also Auchi and Agenegbode, both in Edo North Senatorial District,” said the governor. “Because the 120 kilometres spaces between them do not have any military presence, it has been difficult for the military to respond either from the South or North when there is an incident.”

He told the army chief that his administration would provide the military with “all necessary support” if Mr Yahaya acceded to his request.

“While I appeal to Nigeria Army to heed our request, the state government will give all necessary support if the army can consider setting up a forward operating base between the distance of the North and South senatorial districts,” Mr Obaseki further explained. “This will help us cover the axis where we are beginning to experience a lot of kidnappings and robbery incidents.”

Though the “4 Brigade has been very helpful in supporting our communities in crisis,” the governor also requested a “special squad to support our efforts in calming the restiveness we are seeing around communities.”

The governor added, “We have laws in place that will help us deal with these issues. But by the time some of these communities find out that we now also have heavily armed military personnel within their communities, peace will return to such areas.”