Anambra among states with least crime in South-East in 2024 – Survey

A recent Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey (CESPS) by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) places Anambra among the Southeast states with the lowest crime rates in the country in 2024.

The 2024 CESPS report collated crime incidents across the six geopolitical zones, with the Southeast recording the lowest rate of 6.2 million while the North West recorded the highest rate of 14.4 million incidents.

According to the CESPS survey data, the six geopolitical zones recorded as follows: South East – 6.2m, South West – 6.9m, South-South – 7.7m, North East – 7.9m, North Central – 8.8m, and North West – 14.4m.

“While the South East recorded the lowest incidence in crime experience with 6.2m, the North West was said to have had the largest with 14.4m. However, the report released by the NBS is a pointer to the several efforts of the current administration in addressing the security challenges ubiquitous in the country,” Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser on Policy Communications to president Bola Tinubu, said in a recent statement titled, ‘Ensuring Data Transparency: Tinubu govt debuts with CESPS.’

Christian Aburime, the chief press secretary (CPS) to Governor Soludo, stated that the survey underscores Governor Charles Soludo’s quest for a safer Anambra with the security machinery put in place to tackle crime across the state.

He disclosed that the state government has demonstrated commitment to addressing the security challenges in Anambra through consistent support to law enforcement agencies, adequate funding, and concerted efforts in implementing the state’s new security network.

“This underscores Soludo’s move in strengthening the state’s security architecture with a comprehensive security eco-system which will be launched next year, and code-named ‘Operation UDO GA-ACHI’ meaning ‘Operation Peace Shall Reign,’ with 163 vehicles for operation.”

According to Aburime, the move is to enable the security operatives to deal decisively with criminals to make Anambra a safe place. He stated that this is in line with the two months amnesty given to criminals to surrender for proper rehabilitation or face devastating consequences.

According to the statement, Governor Soludo’s administration met the worst situation of insecurity in the state, with unknown gunmen unleashing mayhem at will, robbing, killing, and terrorising the people.

However, their activities were confronted with the cooperation of the state’s security agencies, which paved the way for peace to reign.

It stated that what Anambra needs now is a unified approach where government efforts are complemented by citizen cooperation through regular intelligence sharing between communities and security agencies.

According to the statement, there is a need for constructive dialogue between critics and government officials, community-level security awareness and vigilance, and reduced politicisation of security issues.