GOVERNOR Professor Charles Soludo has identified the unknown gunmen unleashing terror on the state as Igbo people, saying that the perpetrators are not invaders.
Soludo said suspects arrested so far “are 100 per cent Igbo,” but noted that the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) had distanced itself from the crime.
He, however, said his administration had put in place several measures to end the menace.
He said, “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.
“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 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.”
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).
Governor Soludo, who insisted that the security situation has greatly improved, attributed the feat to the efforts of the security forces.
He thanked the security forces and the vigilante groups for their gallantry, as well as the residents for their cooperation in curbing crimes in the state.
“Anambra has been relatively quiet and peaceful, and we are pursuing this agenda,” said the governor. “I would dare to say that if we were to have the statistics over the last three months, I think Anambra will compare favourably as one of the safest comparatively.”
On the identities of those arrested in connection with some of the attacks in the state, he said, “Let me be clear about it; 100% of the people we have caught are Igbos. It is not about some people invading from somewhere; it is 100% Igbos on Igbos, that is the fact.”
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