The concatenation of kidnappings and acts of criminal brigandage that happened in Anambra state in the past three months has tended to paint its portraiture as a state on the threshold of becoming a lawless enclave and ungoverned space.
But no state or country in the world is crime-free. But why is it like that? Human beings who have mixtures of good and bad traits do commit atrocious and unconscionable deeds so as to amass wealth and achieve their selfish ends. As a result, the occurrence of blood-chilling crimes has become commonplace in many different parts of the world. So governments exist in different countries of the world to maintain law and order and combat people’s perpetration of criminal deeds.
Anambra state, which came into existence in 1991, has had its own fair share of occurrences of violent and criminal incidents. For example, during the governorship era of Dr Chris Ngige, he was engaged in a fierce political battle with Chris Uba for the control of the Anambra state’s financial till, which resulted in his abduction. That was the height of political brigandage in Anambra state, which made the state teeter on the precipice of anarchy, then.
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However, Anambra state, whose slogan is “the light of the nation,” should not be defined by that short period of political turmoil. Is Anambra State not the home state of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, a foremost freedom fighter and Pan-Africanist; Chief Emeka Anyaoku, a former Commonwealth Secretary General; Chinua Achebe, one of the founders of Modern African Literature; Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, an internationally recognised award-winning writer; Mary Onyali-Omagbemi, former African sprints queen of the tracks; Chief Osita Osadebe, high-life music maestro; and others?
And the state is the home of many markets, which make it the economic hub of the southeast geopolitical zone. Anambra state, given the volume of trade that is carried out in it on a daily basis, is critical to our country’s economic growth and sustainability. And based on that, happenings in it should be of concern to the generality of Nigerians, irrespective of their ethnic origins, religious faiths, and political party affiliations.
Over the years, save the brief period when Dr Chris Ngige battled his political benefactor turned political foe, Chris Uba, and when the Bakassi Boys routed the criminal gangs in Anambra State, Anambra State has always been a peaceful state. And the state has been witnessing a seamless, orderly, and peaceful change of state governors.
The ruling party in Anambra state, APGA, which has been on political ascendance since 2006, has had many troubles. But those troubles had never spiralled off into full-blown, violent, bloodletting conflicts. The fact is that APGA matters are always litigated and settled in courts.
Since the inception of the fourth republic in 1999, APGA has ruled Anambra state for nineteen uninterrupted years, starting from 2006 when Mr Peter Obi wrested power from Dr Chris Ngige through judicial means. Thereafter, upon the expiration of his tenure in office, Mr Peter Obi handed the baton of leadership to Dr Willie Obiano. And Professor Chukwuma Soludo, who is the incumbent governor of Anambra State, is the immediate successor of Dr Willie Obiano.
All the past Anambra state governors who ruled the state on the platform of APGA for the past nineteen years tried their best possible to remake Anambra state and take it to great economic and technological heights. Mr Peter Obi’s legacies in the areas of education and health will endure the test of time. They cannot be erased by the passage of time. It was he who returned badly run schools to their rightful owners—churches—and equipped them with computers and pieces of science laboratory equipment, in addition to giving them princely sums of money.
And Dr Willie Obiano, his successor, contributed his quota for the development of Anambra state. His leadership slogan was “Willie is working.”. He left his leadership imprints in diverse areas such as infrastructural development, economy, education, and security. He built pedestrian bridges in the state. And his leadership of the state climaxed with his building of a cargo airport at Aguleri.
Today, the Anambra state governor is Professor Chukwuma Soludo, a philosopher-king, who is keen on transforming Anambra state into an industrialised and economically prosperous state. And he has a roadmap for making Anambra state a livable, environmentally friendly, and economically prosperous state. Since he received the mantle of leadership as the governor of Anambra state, he has been unveiling programmes of action, which are aimed at making Anambra state great.
But sadly, now, Anambra state is in the firm grip of armed robbers, kidnappers, and bloody-thirsty secessionists. The state, which quakes with murders, has been turned into a flowing river of blood. The perpetration of heinous crimes in the state by unscrupulous and evil-minded people struck fear into the minds of Anambra people.
And those fearsome and daredevil criminal elements are trying to turn some parts of Anambra state into ungovernable spaces. As a result, the people of Anambra state are living in mortal fear of the criminals.
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A recent catalogue of crimes, which were committed in Anambra state, showed that Ifeoma Esther Onyekwelu, a banker, was killed in Anambra state in January 2025 by her abductors after her relations had paid ransom for her release. Before then, the RTD Most Rev. Godwin Okpala had spent twenty-seven days in the kidnappers’ gulag before he was released in the first week of January 2025.
And in November 2024, in an act of daredevilry, which was reminiscent of scenes from crime films, hooded gunmen pumped hot leads into members of security outfits in Abatete and Ukpo. Four people were killed in those attacks. And the president general of the Abatete town union was mortally wounded in that unfortunate and blood-curdling incident.
However, now, thankfully, and expectedly, Gov. Soludo has responded swiftly and timely to Anambra state’s gradual descent into an anarchic situation by executing pragmatic and well-conceived measures to tackle the monster of insecurity in the state. First, the Homeland Security Law, which was enacted by the Anambra state legislature, has become effective. The aim of the law is to curtail, if not to extirpate, all manner of criminal deeds, which are being perpetrated in the state.
And the launching of the Agunechemba security outfit is a judicious act that will yield the desired results. That security outfit, which will work in concert with other security outfits in Anambra state, will complement the efforts of the police in the areas of crime prevention and arrest of criminal elements in Anambra state.
Gov. Soludo is not unaware of the stark fact that a safe and peaceful Anambra state will attract foreign investors in the same way as a magnet attracts iron filings. Being conscious of that fact, he is not leaving any stone unturned in his effort to run kidnappers, armed robbers, and murderous non-state actors out of Anambra state.
Chiedu Uche Okoye; Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State. 08062220654. 09125204141. Okoye is a poet.
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