Curbing Insecurity In Edo: Why Proper Data on Movement of Newcomers to Communities May Reduce Scourge.

by EBEN ENASCO

As insecurity continues to challenge communities across the country, including Edo State, one often-overlooked solution is keeping proper records of newcomers moving into towns and villages.

Kidnapping has become a recurring problem in many local communities across the state. 

Areas such as Akoko Edo, Auchi, Ekpoma, Uhromi, Ovia, Orhionmwon, and Uhunmwonde have reported frequent incidents.

Most kidnapping exploits in local communities are often reportedly spearheaded by Fulani extract who have been reported to have occupied various forests armed with sophisticated weapons down southern Nigeria.

This development has caused the escalation of mistrusts and a further tension around farming villages who are mostly vunelrable to attacks.

The few people living in their communities have either abandoned farming practices, or relocated permanently fearing the worst attacks.

Food shortage has ravaged the already downward sliding economy and is clearly reflecting on both low and average income earning families.

Many victims have been killed even after ransom payments, underscoring the urgent need for better preventive measures and stronger community security systems.

A simple register of new residents, tenants, and visitors could provide early warning signs and strengthen community policing rather than recruiting local security guards without identifying the  root cause.

According to security analysts, criminal groups often exploit gaps in community knowledge by blending in with new arrivals. 

Without data, it becomes difficult for residents and law enforcement to distinguish between genuine settlers and those with criminal intent.

Community leaders say documentation does not mean profiling or discrimination, but a way of checking insecurity.

It means basic information, such as name, origin, purpose of visit, and duration of stay, shared with local community heads, vigilante groups, and the police.

This will help trace movements when incidents occur and deter criminal elements who prefer anonymity.

Most coordinated crimes even though aided by some natives, are carried out by these unknown attackers who have no regular address to trace them to.

Local government authorities must collaborate with the traditional institutions who are earning in millions without specific relevance in the society by Keeping proper records of newcomers moving into towns and villages that will help identify criminals in several practical ways.

When a crime occurs, police and community leaders can quickly check who recently moved in, where they are staying, and their background.

This narrows the suspect pool instead of starting from zero.

People planning criminal activity often avoid places where they know they will be documented.

A simple register signals that the community is organized and watching, making it riskier for offenders to blend in.

  

Unusual patterns stand out when records are kept: multiple newcomers with no clear purpose, people giving false addresses, or individuals avoiding registration. 

Communities can flag these to the police before crimes happen.

 

Local vigilantes and police rely on information from residents.

Having documented data gives them concrete leads to work with, improving coordination between the community and law enforcement.

If someone commits a crime and flees, records make it harder to disappear without a trace. 

Landlords, community heads, and neighbors can provide useful details to track suspected movements.

Documented data protects honest settlers by separating them from suspicion when incidents occur elsewhere in the area.

The goal isn’t profiling or discrimination. It’s basic information: name, origin, purpose of stay, and contact. In places where this is done well, it has helped reduce kidnapping, theft, and armed robbery by closing the anonymity criminals rely on.

Government recruiting over 500 Forest guards is commendable because it will complement security operations, but the situation will remain unresolved without capturing data of foreigners' influx who have no specific home addresses. 

It is difficult and almost impossible to track these foreigners or new commers whose only duty is to carry out a heinous act without trace.

According to 2023 statistics, no fewer than 1,800 truckloads of livestock leave the northern part of Nigeria to the southern part every month, says the then Chairman of the Association of Sheep and Goat Sellers of Nigeria, Alhaji Mustafa Ali.

Ali, who doubles as the National Auditor of the Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria AUFCDN, said extortion in Benue and Taraba states remained their major headache.

Three years after, one should expect that the figures would have doubled and this would include the movement of humans and cows in the same truck.

Trusted statistics revealed that 

everyday in Edo several numbers of northerners are transported with heavy duty trucks alongside cows to various communities across Edo State particularly the exit locations in the state.

Stakeholders in Edo State have raised concerns about the influx of these large numbers of newcomers transported into various communities alongside cows, often without proper documentation of their destinations.

This movement is especially noticeable along bypass areas and exit points such as Aduwawa, Ogheghe, Oluku, Upper Ekehuan, Siloko, and parts of the GRA and Iyekogba communities.

They warn that when people settle without clear addresses or records, it creates security gaps that criminal elements can exploit, making it difficult for communities and law enforcement to trace suspects after crimes occur.

Advocates say keeping basic records of new arrivals is a practical step toward strengthening community security and supporting police investigations.

They sleep in the mosques, shops, on the streets and stay without proper records. They are the ones used for iron condemned who invade uncompleted buildings and steal expensive building materials where they are sold off.

Government authority must also take data of cow owners whose employees have become criminals unknowingly or knowingly to them.

Cattle owners have become part of the challenges facing security operations.

The Edo State Police Command has repeatedly urged communities to partner with security agencies by providing timely and credible information.

Arguably, keeping organized data on newcomers is one practical way to act on that call.

Advocates also note that in states where such systems are working, local registers have helped reduce kidnapping, theft, and violent crimes by making it harder for suspects to operate undetected.

As Edo battles rising security threats, the message is clear; knowing who comes into your community may be one of the simplest, yet most effective tools in the fight against insecurity.

Edo State Government, State Lawmakers, and community leaders must as a matter of urgent importance look at areas to explore proper documentation to monitor the influx of strangers into local communities, as part of efforts to tackle rising insecurity.

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