Trains over 1,500 vigilante operatives, hunters on weapons handling, intelligence gathering

In line with its Make Edo Great Again (MEGA) agenda, the Edo State government has launched a new cleanup campaign to strengthen ongoing efforts to transform Edo into the cleanest state in the country.

The exercise tagged, ‘Cleanup MEGA’ commenced in Benin City and will be extended to other local councils of the state to ensure a cleaner and healthier Edo.

As part of the exercise, the Commissioner for Environment and Sustainability, Joshua Omokhodion, led other team members to clean up major markets, roads and streets, among others.

Other team members are health officials from Oredo Council, the Edo Waste Management Board, the National Union of Road Transport Workers in the state, and the Edo Tipper Drivers Association of Nigeria, among others.

Omokhodion, while addressing journalists after the exercise, in Benin City, said the exercise is part of renewed efforts to transform the state into the cleanest and most conducive place to live in.

He said the programme, which is in phases, will be expanded, noting that “this first phase is a pilot scheme and a general model for the entire state to ensure there is Monday to Monday cleaning of all markets across the state.”

He said: “This would graduate into a monthly environmental sanitation exercise. This is in line with Governor Godwin Obaseki’s vision that by 2030, Edo would become a destination where people live in good health, and their general well-being would be guaranteed. The only way to achieve this is to start a programme that makes the state as habitable as possible unlike what it used to be.”

IN another development, the state government has commenced two-week training for over 1,500 hunters and personnel of the Edo State Vigilante Security Network on weapons handling and intelligence gathering.

Addressing journalists at the Police Training College, in Benin City, the Coordinator, Edo State Security Network, Col. Kole Oshoriamhe Omomia (Rtd), said the training, in its second batch, is aimed at bolstering the government’s efforts at combating crime in the state.

The trainees, according to him, were drawn from Edo Central and Edo South Senatorial districts.

The first batch of the training was organised for 574 other operatives and hunters from Edo North Senatorial District.

Omomia said: “This is a two-week training programme aimed at training operatives and hunters in the Edo State Security Network. The 1, 500 operatives/hunters drawn from Edo Central and South Senatorial districts will undergo intensive training.”