Edo Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has reviewed the 24-hours curfew imposed on the State last Monday when the #EndSARS protest turned violent.
He announced the downward review of the curfew after meeting with some civil society groups in Benin.
The governor said he anticipated the uprising, because things are not going right in the country.
“Following this the meeting, we will step down the 24-hours curfew to allow people go out for their daily bread.
“The curfew is now from 4pm to 6am, and we will watch it for two days and considered further review if the protest is peaceful,” he said.
Obaseki noted that the demand of the youths are legitimate, but that what government is worried about is the level of criminality by hoodlums.
He said if not for the youth, he would not have come back as governor for the second time, adding that despite the intimidation, they still voted for him and that he will never forget or abandon them
According to him, “Our position as a government is that we are in support of #EndSARS because your demands are legitimate.
“My prayers during September election was that, they should not temper with the election and if they had done so, this crisis would have started that day.
“But God heard our prayers. So, when this crisis started with #EndSARS, I was not surprised at all. We have been anticipating it. Things are not right in Nigeria and we need to fix it and we have the capacity to fix it.”
One of the youths, Solomon Idiogbe, who spoke on the attack and vandalisation of properties, especially Customs’ Warehouse in Benin, attributed the development to conspiracy from an insider.
Idiogbe advised the government to encourage security agencies in the state to embark on a house-to-house to mop up arms and ammunition that were carted away by the hoodlums from the Customs’ warehouse, to ensure the safety of the citizens.
