By Saintmoses Eromosele (SME)
For many years, December in Edo State came with fear. Christmas was not just a season of joy; it was a season of caution. Families stayed indoors at night. Young people were warned not to attend parties. Parents waited anxiously for loved ones to return home safely. Police sirens often replaced Christmas music, and cult clashes followed a familiar and painful pattern around Christmas Eve and the days that followed.
For Edo people in the diaspora, the fear was even stronger. Many stopped coming home for Christmas altogether. Those who managed to visit often stayed indoors, avoided nightlife, and cut their trips short. Some chose to spend the season in other states or remained abroad, watching events unfold from a distance. December, once a time of reunion, became a month to avoid.
That long story changed in December 2025
For the first time in nearly two decades, Edo State passed through the yuletide season without a wave of cult violence. There were no widely reported cult wars, no Christmas Eve killings, no chain retaliations, and no atmosphere of panic. Instead, the streets stayed alive. Transport ran late into the night. Businesses remained open. Families moved freely. Public confidence returned.
The clearest sign was the maiden Edo Carnival. Crowds filled the streets. Music, colour, and culture took over public spaces. Security was visible, calm, and in control. Such an event would have been unthinkable in earlier Decembers. Its success was not accidental; it was the natural outcome of a safer environment.
This change did not come by luck. It followed the firm and deliberate approach of Monday Okpebholo, whose government confronted cultism directly rather than managing it quietly. Security agencies focused on breaking cult leadership and financing, not just arresting foot soldiers. Patrols and intelligence operations continued through Christmas instead of easing off. Arrests were followed by real consequences, and communities regained confidence to share information, knowing it would be acted upon.
The result was not something people read only in official statements; it was something they lived. Parents allowed their children out at night. Visitors moved around without fear. Shops, bars, and entertainment spots stayed open. People spoke softly but confidently, saying the same thing again and again: this December felt different.
For Edo people in the diaspora, this matters deeply. December 2025 showed that Edo can once again be a place to return to—not just to sleep behind locked doors, but to celebrate, reconnect, and enjoy home. The fear that kept many away is easing. Sanity is returning. Confidence is rebuilding.
Benin danced again because peace made it possible. There were no shadows, no coded warnings, no streets emptied by fear. Just people, culture, pride, and joy.
December 2025 will be remembered as Edo’s Christmas of Peace. It marked a clear break from a violent past and opened a new chapter in the state’s security story. To Edo people at home and abroad, the message is simple and sincere: come home again — Edo is breathing again.
Saintmoses Eromosele (aka SME) writes from his Cassava farm in Ewu
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