Twenty-four hours after protesters took to the streets of Ekpoma, the headquarters of Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State, to protest insecurity in the town, kidnappers have abducted a man in a daring operation that was captured on CCTV.
A viral video doing the rounds on social media platforms shows kidnappers purportedly abducting the man in Ekpoma after he alighted from his car inside his compound.
The claim around the viral video footage could not be independently verified, but it is fast trending and raising concerns over the rising incidence of insecurity in the town.
Reposts said that shortly after he parked and alighted from his car, armed men emerged from the bush behind the house, swooped on him, and whisked him away to an unknown location.
The abduction was said to have occurred just a day after a mass protest rocked the town, with residents taking to the streets to demand urgent action from security agencies and the Edo State Government over the worsening insecurity.
In their anger, protesters pulled down campaign billboards already mounted across the town ahead of the 2027 general elections, accusing politicians of prioritising early campaigns over the safety and welfare of residents.
During the protest, a 32-year-old protester, identified as Osagie Abraham, was shot.
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But on Sunday, the Edo State Police Command said the police commissioner had ordered an immediate investigation into the shooting of Abraham, insisting that the victim was alive and receiving medical care.
In a statement issued on Sunday, January 11, 2026, the Command said the protest, which took place on Saturday, was initially planned as a peaceful demonstration but was hijacked by individuals who engaged in vandalism, looting, and other unlawful activities.
The protest was triggered by the abduction and killing of a young man on January 9, 2026, allegedly by suspected kidnappers.
According to the statement signed by the command’s Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Eno Ikoedem, the Commissioner of Police, CP Monday Agbonika, personally visited Ekpoma during the protest and later led reinforcements from the Command Headquarters in Benin to restore order.
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