Abuja, Nigeria – The Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, has explained why insecurity and kidnapping are rife in the state, saying the economic situation of Anambra among South-East states made it a target of criminals.
Gov Soludo made the explaination when he appeared on Politics Today, a popular programme on Channels TV in Nigeria.
The former Central Bank of Nigeria governor also stated that contrary to claims, those perpetrating criminalities are known and not unknown as being reported in the media.
“They are plain criminals. Some of these criminals also hide under the cloak of agitation but IPOB has repeatedly distanced itself from the criminals. They are kidnappers and plain criminals and they indulge in these because it is lucrative. Anambra is without a doubt the richest State in the South-East so this is the State where kidnapping has the highest value and so you will have their highest concentration here.
“If you have an Okada rider who goes into the bush; learns how to shoot, and joins a criminal gang after which they kidnap someone and make millions, it won’t be easy convincing such to go back to his Okada business anymore.
“But we are decimating them. They are not unknown gunmen, they are unknown to the extent that maybe are not caught immediately. But I can tell you we’ve been catching quite a lot of them and they already know that Anambra is not safe for them anymore.
“Let me be clear about it, 100 per cent of the people we have caught are Igbo. There is no hoax that somebody is invading from somewhere. It is 100 per cent Igbo on Igbo.
“Anambra receives its proportional share of an influx of Igbo from other South-East states and other parts of Nigeria. At the initial stage when we started decimating them, the first set of people we caught are Igbo from the South-East States and not from Anambra. But as we went on, we discovered that a whole lot of the youth are joining them and we have not disguised among them, we are dealing with them equally,” Soludo said.
On his effort to nip insecurity in the bud, the governor maintained that several operations are ongoing to correct the anomaly, adding that Anambra residents are now enjoying relative peace.
“The 8.5 million residents in Anambra can testify to you that insecurity has come down to the barest minimum. At least, in the last three months, cases of insecurity that seem to be daily affairs have come to a halt.
“We have decimated criminal gangs and their infrastructures and I don’t think they have the capacity again to come with the kind of ferocity they have in the past.
“Anambra has been relatively peaceful recently and we are pursuing a peaceful agenda. Compared to many other places in Nigeria, I will say if we have to have the statistics in the last three months, I think Anambra will compete favorably as one of the safest comparatively.
“We are not relenting. The operations are ongoing. Many communities are now at peace and having their new yam festival celebrations and these are things that weren’t possible in the past. Millions of events are also taking place simultaneously.
“However, insecurity won’t disappear overnight. It took years for them to take root and build about 15 camps all over the 8 local governments. Their activities won’t disappear in three months. But we are not relenting, we are putting in all our efforts and we are determined to make Anambra safe and secure for the residents and businesses,” he added.
While giving an update on last week’s attack on the convoy of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, the governor declared that the state cannot be a haven for gunmen who he is convinced have relatives in the communities.
The Senator’s convoy was reportedly attacked around Nkwo Enugwu Ukwu Market area of Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State on his way to Nnewi, his country home last Sunday. The gunmen opened fire on the convoy and left five members of the convoy dead and two policemen injured.
He said, “We are pursuing them vigorously. We have this lead whether this was an orchestrated or pinpoint attack and all kinds of theories as to why this happened. I can bet you, it won’t be too long before we get them. We are not relenting one minute.
This is even as he disclosed that the security agencies have secured about four leads and are hot on the chase of the attackers.
He said, “I told you there are many leads and we don’t want to be presumptuous. There are three or four leads. One of them, as you said, could be the targeting of senators. Another lead is that the attack could have been targeted at somebody else and he ran into them and they opened fire. The security agents are on top of the situation.
“No space in Anambra will accommodate these criminals. Of course, they are known criminals. They come from homes, have parents, relatives and have people from the villages and so on. But thank goodness, people are now coming forward with information about their identities. And that’s how we have been picking them
While taking stock of his six months in government, the governor said, “we came into turbulence in the area of security with about eight local governments taken over by the criminals in more than 15 camps and held the state hostage. Even during political electioneering, most of us couldn’t campaign freely in all the senatorial zones.
“As I said, the 15 camps have been decimated, degraded their infrastructure. I don’t think they have the capacity again to come with the kind of ferocity in the past.
“The operations are ongoing. Even yesterday, many operations went on in parks and many communities.
“I must commend the people of Anambra State including the stakeholders, security forces, police, navy, army, civil defence and the vigilantes for their massive cooperation in dealing with it
“Compare to many other places in Nigeria, I dare to say, going by the statistics of the last three months, Anambra is one of the safest places comparatively.”
Before Professor Soludo took over the leadership mantle in the state, residents of Anambra have been living in fear as hardly would a week pass by without the report of an attack. In most cases, the assailants target police facilities and offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), among other government properties in the state.
Most of the attacks have been linked to members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its militant wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN).
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