The Edo State Government says it has prepared land at Teboga, in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area, to host the Nigerian Army’s new 83 Division and is aiming for the division to begin work by December 2026. Governor Monday Okpebholo’s administration describes the move as its contribution to a federal effort to strengthen the military against shifting security threats, with oil and gas protection as the first priority.
The governor said during a recent visit to the site on September 24th that bush clearing is finished and fencing comes next. “Everything needed to complete this place for the military to inhabit here is ready and we are set,” he said. His office says temporary accommodation is available and alternative office space can be used if the division needs to start earlier.
The State links the project to the security pillar of Okpebholo’s SHINE agenda. The Army’s 4 Brigade Commander, Brigadier General Ahmed Balogun, who joined the inspection, said work was moving steadily and that operations would start “in the nearest future.”
The 83 Division is one of four new divisions President Bola Tinubu approved to strengthen the Army’s force structure. Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu has since approved General Officers Commanding for the new divisions. The others are the 5 Division in Makurdi, which will serve Benue, Nasarawa and Kogi States, the 9 Division in Ilorin (Kwara and Niger) and the 10 Division in Jalingo (border areas of Taraba and Adamawa). The additions come alongside a wider reorganisation of the Army’s existing Divisional Areas of Responsibility, according to a statement the Army posted on its official X account in July.
Based in Benin City, the 83 Division will cover Edo, Delta and Bayelsa States once activated later this year, the Army said. It is to guard critical oil and gas assets, tackle crude theft and illegal refining and maintain internal security across the region’s creeks and forests.
No official start date has been published beyond the state’s December target and the Army’s looser timeframe. The site has been cleared, but details of its construction have are yet to be released.