21 August 2026 · Etsako West
Kidnapping in Edo
OpenWatch has recorded 326 reported kidnapping incidents in Edo State, 71 of them in the last 12 months. That is 30% of every incident recorded in the state, and ranks it 6 of 37 among the states where kidnapping is reported often enough to profile.
Incidents · 12 mo
71
Fatalities · 12 mo
25
Incidents · all-time
326
Fatalities · all-time
160
Latest reported kidnapping in Edo
12 August 2026 · Oredo
Police rescue kidnap victim, nab syndicate members in Edo
9 August 2026 · Esan South-East
The Edo State Police Command rescued a kidnap victim, neutralised one suspected kidnapper and recovered ₦1.5 million ransom during a joint forest operation in Esan South-East LGA.
8 August 2026
Nigerian Army troops rescued a kidnapped 50-year-old farmer and neutralised one of his kidnappers in Edo State.
7 August 2026 · Okada
Edo State Police, in collaboration with the Vigilante Group of Nigeria, local hunters, and other security agents, rescued four kidnapping victims who had been abducted by armed men posing as vigilantes along the Ugbokun axis of the Lagos-Benin Expressway. The suspects fled into the forest after sustained pressure from a combined security team using drone-assisted bush-combing operations, and the four victims were reunited with their families.
30 July 2026 · Ovia North-East
Troops of the 4 Brigade, Nigerian Army, rescued 14 kidnapped victims along the Lagos-Benin Expressway in Ovia North-East LGA, Edo State, following a swift response to a kidnap incident on 30 July 2026. Eleven victims were recovered during the initial pursuit on the night of the abduction, and three more were rescued in a follow-up forest clearance operation on 31 July 2026.
15 July 2026
Edo State Police operatives rescued an abducted cattle dealer from a kidnappers' hideout in the Imoga Forest on July 15, 2026, after the victim was abducted on July 7 along the Igarra–Auchi Expressway. The kidnappers abandoned their captive and fled after sustained drone surveillance, aerial patrols, and clearance operations by the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, VCRU, and Police Drone Unit.
12 July 2026 · Esan West
A joint security team comprising Nigerian Army troops, Nigeria Police, and local vigilantes arrested a suspected kidnapper during a coordinated operation in Esan West LGA, Edo State.
12 July 2026 · Esan West
Armed gunmen attacked students of Ambrose Alli University at Ujemen G.T. Extension in Ekpoma on the night of July 12, 2026, killing one 300-level undergraduate and abducting three female students. A joint security operation on July 14 rescued the three students unharmed from a hideout in Erah Forest, neutralising one suspect and arresting another.
10 July 2026 · Esan West
Gunmen carried out two separate kidnapping incidents in Edo State on July 10 and July 12, 2026, killing a 300-level student of Ambrose Alli University in Ekpoma and abducting five others including a palace secretary, three children, and a woman. The abductors demanded N30 million ransom for the Idoa victims, threatening to kill them if payment was not made by July 13.
Other threats in Edo
About these figures
Counts cover incidents classified as kidnapping in Edo State, drawn from OpenWatch’s incident record, excluding retracted reports and duplicates merged into an earlier report. Figures update hourly. Last recorded: 21 August 2026.
Reported numbers are a floor, not a census. Incidents in remote areas are routinely under-reported, and classification follows how an event was described in reporting, so a low count is not a guarantee of safety. See the full Edo risk profile for every threat type, or the methodology for how incidents are collected and classified.
Track Edo live on the incident map.