The Edo State government on Tuesday said a coordinated approach in conjunction with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been developed to stamp out Cybercrime from the State

But it vowed to attack the root cause of the menace, which the Government said discourages youths from acquiring formal Education.

The State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Oluwole Iyamu SAN disclosed this on Tuesday at the State Executive Council (SEC) meeting for February which was presided over by the State governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki in Benin City.

“From the data presented and correlated by that of the state, it’s clear that large numbers of youths are engaged in this act.

“The age bracket involved in cybercrime is from 15 to less than 30 years, and prominent among them is dating scams, which is about 80 to 90 percent of the cybercrime activities in the State”, according to Okuwole.

Addressing journalists after the meeting, Governor Godwin Obaseki said over 120 security personnel have been deployed to forests in the state, particularly the Ovia Forest to dislodge criminals from the area.

According to him, “We have deployed over 120 security personnel to dislodge criminals from the Ovia axis of our forest. We got information that criminals are trying to come back, but we have redeployed more security personnel. We are working on how to completely flush them out of Edo State.”

He also noted that Edo had an impressive drop of incidence from about 170 in January to 46 in February, assuring that the incessant farmers and herders clashes have been addressed.

Obaseki further stated that the Security Council also resolved to immediately begin the arrest and prosecution of owners of unregistered vehicles, as well as vehicles with covered number plates in the State.

The State Sector Commander of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Henry Benamaisia who corroborated the Government stance on the enforcement of
arrest and prosecution of owners of unregistered vehicles, and other related matters.

He revealed that the agency has discovered that criminals move around the state with unregistered plate numbers, adding, “to check this, the state government has set up a task force to arrest offenders starting from today.”

He disclosed that the agency has discovered that criminals move around the state with unregistered plate numbers, adding, “to check this, the state government has set up a task force to arrest offenders starting from today.”

He stressed that the Federal Government through the FRSC has approved 5,000 plate numbers for Edo State, emphasizing that, “All plate numbers must not be covered but opened as security agencies from this week will embark on a massive operation to arrest offenders.”

“Speed is a major cause of accidents and deaths on our road. Consequently, the governor has given us the mandate to arrest any commercial bus driver not using the speed limit device.”

“It is compulsory for all commercial vehicles in Edo state to install their speed limit device. If you are a commercial driver in Edo State without the speed limit device, it is now an offense and you will be arrested,” accordingly.

On his part, the Commissioner of Police in Edo State, CP Philip Ogbadu highlighted the achievements of the police.

He said between January and February, the police Command has arrested several suspects including suspected kidnappers and three persons on the Police wanted list since June last year and recovered a cache of arms and ammunition from arrested suspected criminals within the same period.

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