For quite a while now, the news coming out of Edo State has been an admixture of heroic activities of the state government to transform the state and the not so salutary activities of sundry individuals and groups seemingly bound to wreak havoc on the society.

There is little doubt that the state government headed by former leader of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, is doing its best to bring growth to the state. But since no real achievement is possible without adequate security, the spate of criminal activities in and around Benin City, the state capital is bound to frustrate the most thought out plan of any administration.

There is no denying the fact that the state of insecurity in Edo State, and Benin City in particular, is high and that the inhabitants have paid atrocious amounts in cash and blood to satisfy the demands of the criminals.

Basically, the crimes of choice appear to be kidnapping and extortion - which started out as a weapon of protest in the Niger Delta but have become well established practice in Edo State. But there are a number of armed robberies and killings being carried out too and recently, unexploded bombs were discovered in Benin City.

Hardly a day passes without reports of the kidnap of a child, woman or man. The latest high profile victim was the chief medical director of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital - a condemnable act that led to a suspension of work by shocked workers of the hospital.

Sundry state officials and indigenes of the state have also fallen prey to these dealers in human sorrow.

Recently, the Oba of Benin was so moved by the deterioration of respect for lives and property in his domain that he instructed his chiefs to explore traditional means of tackling the twin issues of kidnapping and armed robbery in the city.

The state government has tried more orthodox means. Last year, it created a joint police-military task force to combat crime in the state and this appeared to have tamed the more egregious lawbreakers. But this soon ran into the murky waters of politics and the military were withdrawn from the task force for a while.

But perhaps a new wake-up call to state and federal officials was the series of raids on the state specialist hospital in Benin City that have effectively paralysed activities at the health centre.

As a NEXT reporter found out, several wards in the hospital have been visited repeatedly by armed robbers, who unleash terror on the patients and medical workers on duty.

These particularly grim set of miscreants are said to be partial to the children's ward - and from there to the maternity and labour rooms where they rob people in the throes of perhaps the most noble of all human undertakings - delivering babies.

Reports speak of panic stricken women scampering for safety ahead of this sub-human bunch of bandits, some of the patients reportedly taking refuge in the toilet while others ran out of the room naked.

It is hard to fathom what the motivation for this kind of cruelty and banditry is. But one thing is sure: this level of depravity is a sign of how bad things have really become and how lawless the society has grown.

For people who are familiar with the history of Benin's heritage of an ancient and respected civilisation and its recent achievement as a city of learning and culture, this really is a tragedy of deep proportions.

The time to save Benin, and indeed Edo State, is now.

The state government and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party politicians must bury their acrimony to establish a bi-partisan team to tackle insecurity in the state; after all they all profess to work for the interest of the people.

Evidently, none of the criminals carry out their nefarious acts under the banner of any of the political parties. It is also safe to assume that they would not be interested in the political leanings of their victims before they attack them.

There are indeed several developmental challenges facing the state, but the state government should move security to the top of its list. It should find a way to encourage security agencies in the state to do their job properly in the interest of the people of the state.