The Edo State Police Command has intensified operations inside forest areas across the state, targeting suspected hideouts used by kidnappers and other criminal groups.
The latest operation followed a six-week forest search around Ekiadolor in Ovia North-East Local Government Area, with personnel from Police Mobile Force (PMF) Squadrons 5 in Benin City and 82 in Uromi deployed to difficult-to-access areas.
Commander of PMF Squadron 5, ACP Olayinka Saheed, said the operation was designed to take security efforts beyond roads and residential communities and into areas believed to provide cover for criminal activities.
According to him, armed operatives have been searching deep forest paths and other remote locations in an effort to disrupt suspected criminal camps and prevent them from becoming established bases.
The operation has also incorporated surveillance drones, giving security personnel aerial visibility over sections of the forest that are difficult to reach on foot.
Saheed said the additional intelligence from the aerial surveillance was helping officers monitor movements and guide their ground operations.
The commander said the sustained deployment was part of a wider strategy to deny kidnappers safe havens and dismantle locations being used to plan or support criminal activities.
He added that maintaining a security presence around forest communities would also help reassure residents living in areas considered vulnerable to criminal activity.
The police stressed that the forest operations would continue beyond the six-week exercise, with further surveillance and targeted searches planned across areas identified as potential criminal hideouts.
The renewed operations come amid efforts by security agencies in Edo to tackle kidnapping and other violent crimes through intelligence gathering, patrols and targeted interventions.
The command urged residents, particularly those living close to forest areas, to remain vigilant and provide credible information that could assist security agencies in tracking suspected kidnappers and other criminal elements.
The police said community cooperation remains important to sustaining the pressure on criminal groups and preventing forests from becoming safe havens for illegal activities.
