The Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo,has explained why insecurity and kidnapping are pervasive in the state.
The Governor said the economic situation of Anambra among South-East states made it a target of criminals.
He said his administration has put in place numerous measures to end the menace.
Soludo stated this on Sunday while speaking on Channels TV’s Politics Today,revealing that those perpetrating criminalities in the state are Igbo.
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.
On the identities of those arrested in connection with some of the attacks in the state, he said,those arrested so far are Igbo from other parts of the region.
“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 Igbos on Igbos, that’s the fact.
“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 stage and 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 ride out insecurity in the state,the governor revealed 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.
Giving an update on last week’s attack on the convoy of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, the former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria declared that the state cannot be a haven for gunmen who he is convinced have relatives in the communities.
Soludo said, “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
“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.”
While commending the security agents in the state,the governor expressed confidence that Anambra has now been relatively quiet and peaceful.
“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.
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.”