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Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo has recounted his early involvement in Christian religious activities, saying he began what he described as “casting out demons” when he was about 17 or 18 years old.
Okpebholo made the remarks while speaking at a church gathering, where he connected his teenage religious experiences with his current approach to confronting insecurity, particularly cultism, in Edo State.
The governor said seeing young people standing in the presence of God reminded him of his own experience as a teenager.
He then linked that background to his administration’s security efforts, saying that confronting insecurity and especially cultism was “not a new thing” to him.
Okpebholo’s comments have attracted attention because they combine his personal religious testimony with a discussion of one of the responsibilities of his office — tackling insecurity and cult-related violence.
The governor’s account of casting out demons represents his personal religious testimony. His administration’s record on security, by contrast, can be assessed through measures such as reported crime and cult-related incidents, arrests, prosecutions and other publicly documented security outcomes.
The remarks therefore open a broader conversation about the relationship between personal faith and public governance, particularly how political leaders translate strongly held religious convictions into policies within a constitutionally diverse society.
For Edo residents, the measurable question remains how the administration’s anti-cultism and security policies affect safety across the state.
