Rising Spate of Insecurity in Ekpoma: A Call for Responsive Representation

YOLA —By: Lucky Omonua

Ekpoma, a bustling university town in Esan West LGA of Edo State, is experiencing a wave of insecurity and needs urgent attention.

In the last 18 months, Ekpoma and neighboring communities like Iruekpen, Illeh, Ewu, Emaudo, and Ujemen have witnessed a disturbing spate of kidnappings and brazen attacks on residents and farmers alike. What should be a center of learning and commerce is fast becoming a corridor of fear.

Residents now close shops before dusk. Students live in fear, while farmers abandon their ancestral lands because the area has become a no-go zone. The economic toll is real: market days are thinning, transporters avoid night trips, and investors are losing confidence in Ekpoma’s potential and investment opportunities. Yet the response from those elected to amplify the people’s voice has been muted.

The representatives at the National Assembly and the State House of Assembly, especially the Senator representing Edo Central and the House of Representatives member for the Esan Central–Esan West and Igueben Federal Constituency, are constitutionally positioned to do more than issue press statements. By design, they sit on committees that oversee security agencies, influence federal allocations, and can lobby for special interventions. Their constituents expect three things, and these must be followed through: visibility, advocacy, and accountability.

Visibility: Representatives must be present on the ground, not just at birthdays, weddings, or burials as guests of party members or relatives. They should organize town hall meetings in Ekpoma and ensure various communities have a voice beyond councilors and ward representatives. Remaining in Abuja and granting prepared PR interviews for optics will not do. First-hand engagement builds trust and yields intelligence that actually helps protect the people.

Advocacy: Move beyond condolence visits after attacks and deaths. Push for concrete action: establish a joint police-military patrol base in Ekpoma; recruit and equip more vigilantes with modern technology such as drones and a command and control center; increase manpower for the Esan West, Esan Central, and Igueben Divisional Police Headquarters; and fast-track the expansion of community policing frameworks, or the proposed state police structure, to give LGAs more control.

Accountability: Use oversight powers to demand answers for intelligence failures before kidnappings occur in communities that were once peaceful and welcoming to students and visitors from across the country.

Constituency projects should reflect these realities. Solar streetlights, CCTV in identified black spots, and the rehabilitation of farm roads and roads connecting rural communities should be prioritized. The state government is already investing in infrastructure, but largely within the city center and major towns. That effort must extend to rural and vulnerable communities around Ekpoma. This is not a luxury, and it is not too much to ask.

Ekpoma does not lack brave youths or concerned traditional rulers. What it lacks is federal-level political will. Insecurity thrives where leadership is absent. If the Senator and the House of Representatives member continue to treat this spate as normal, history will record that they watched and did nothing when their people needed them most.

The people of Esanland elected you and deserve representatives who will speak for them beyond campaign season. The time to act is not after the next breaking news. The time to act is now.