• Criminals renew killings, kidnappings in Anambra, Enugu, Abia, Imo, Ebonyi
• Rake in millions from ransom
• What states are doing to arrest ugly trend
From Magnus Eze, Geoffrey Anyanwu, Jude Chinedu (Enugu), David Onwuchekwa (Nnewi), Okey Sampson (Umuahia), Obinna Odogwu (Awka), George Onwejiuwa, Stanley Uzoaru (Owerri) and Chijioke Agwu (Abakaliki)
Motorists last Tuesday morning barricaded the notorious Ugwogo-Opi road in Enugu State in protest of the spike in activities of kidnappers along the road.
“We cannot continue plying this road in fear. Men, women and children are in the bush and the government is not doing anything about it.
“Criminals are increasing on this road and security operatives are reducing. The attention of government is highly needed. It is either the government intervenes or nobody will ply this road again,” one of the protesters lamented.
Sunday Sun gathered that hoodlums, penultimate Thursday, attacked commuters on three separate occasions along the road.
The first attack occurred at noon, the second attack took place at about 2:00p.m, while the third group of commuters were kidnapped at about 5:00p.m.
Several other commuters were attacked and kidnapped on the previous day by the same band of kidnappers, even when there are several military and police checkpoints along the road.
Indeed, there has been upsurge in criminal activities, including killings, kidnappings, armed robbery and attacks on security operatives in many parts of the Southeast over the past few weeks.
The truth is that the atmosphere of peace and sense of security and safety that pervaded the zone immediately after the general elections has again disappeared. And the season of uncertainty, kidnapping and killings have returned in full force.
Gory tales of killings and mindless attacks now rent the five states of the zone with Enugu and Imo leading the pack.
Many of these attacks were alleged to have been committed by the so-called ‘unknown gunmen,’ Fulani marauders and members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) sponsored Eastern Security Network (ESN).
But IPOB has repeatedly washed off its hands and the ESN from any killings and atrocities in the region.
The self-determination group instead blamed the government-sponsored security agencies and the Ebubeagu security outfit, for most of these carnages.
IPOB recently cried out over alleged ongoing crackdown on innocent youths in Southeast by security forces.
The Enugu incidents were of great concern to residents who called on the state governor, Peter Mbah, to urgently address the issue.
Nevertheless, the state government has reassured residents that it was on top of the matter.
In what seemed a confidence bolster for the people, the state Police Command last Tuesday paraded 15 criminal suspects who were arrested in some parts of the state.
Among them were kidnap suspects alleged to be part of those terrorising motorists along the Ugwogo-Opi road. Seven of their victims were said to have been rescued in the process.
Not a few believe that the security situation in Enugu State worsened immediately after Governor Mbah declared no more sit-at-home on Mondays in the state.
In what looked like an affront on the governor, there was a failed attempt by hoodlums to burn down his Pinnacle oil filling station along Chime Avenue.
Gruesome tales from Ebonyi
In Ebonyi, insecurity heightened in the build up to the general elections. On February 23, one Ogbo Educa, a popular bread seller at the Court Area, Okposi Roundabout in Ohaozara LGA was shot dead in front of his kiosk.
And on March 11, the councillor representing Achara Ward II, Ogbonnaya Ugwu a.k.a Spaco, was gruesomely murdered at the same Court Area, Okposi Roundabout.
He was trailed from his popular entertainment spot, Angle 90, shot in his car and he sped up to the roundabout where his vehicle plunged. His assailants met him there and set him ablaze in the car. Ugwu’s charred body was removed on the following morning.
His elder brother, Okezie Ugwu, lamented the level of killings in Okposi community, noting that his late brother was the third to be killed in mysterious circumstances in Okposi within the period.
Ugwu’s autonomous community, Mgbom N’Achara was again attacked in May when gunmen who were after the youth leader, but could not get him visited the home of the President General, Rev. Johnson Odii. They burnt Odii’s Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) and saloon car parked outside his compound.
Also, on May 24, gunmen attacked Oshiri Police Station in Onicha LGA of the state and killed three policemen on duty while one was wounded.
Police Public Relations Officer for Ebonyi Command, Onome Onovwakpoyeya, said that two of the hoodlums were neutralised while the others escaped with bullet wounds when tactical teams drafted to the area went after them.
She listed the item recovered from the criminals to include: one Lexus car ES350 Model, one fabricated AK 47 rifle, one AK 47 magazine with seven rounds of ammunition, one SMG rifle and one SMG magazine with eight rounds of ammunition.
Other items recovered were “a pack of hard drugs (SK), charms, juju drums and charka musical instrument for shrine.”
Again, on June 17, gunmen believed to be kidnappers killed Mr Emmanuel Igwe, an Assistant Electoral Officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) serving in Afikpo LGA of the state.
Igwe was shot to death by the gunmen while returning from Abia State while the killers abducted his wife who was with him in his car.
The incident occurred along Mpu-Ishiagu Road leading to Enugu-Okigwe highway.
Few days later, the police raided the criminals’ hideout at a forest in Lokpanta, Abia State and killed three of them and arrested eight others. The police said that Igwe’s wife was rescued unhurt.
Meanwhile, the state government under Governor Francis Nwifuru has vowed to confront the challenges of insecurity head on.
Addressing a Security Council meeting shortly after taking over as governor of Ebonyi, he vowed to leave no stone unturned in confronting insecurity in the state.
He proceeded to appoint 13 Special Assistants (SAs) on Internal Security, representing the 13 LGAs of the state.
Nwifuru said that they would work closely with the security especially the police in tracking criminals in all parts of the state.
“The SAs on internal security will not be issued with arms. Their duty is to work closely with the security agencies by way of providing credible information that will help to track down criminals in all parts of the state,” the governor said.
Kidnappers back on Lokpanta-Okigwe axis of highway
The Leru-Lokpanta in Umunneocha axis, Abia State of the Enugu-Port Harcourt highway had been notorious for kidnapping.
Reports indicated that Fulani criminals masquerading as herders had used the place as den. The trend subsided after the abduction of the then Prelate of the Methodist Church of Nigeria.
But like in most states in the region, the menace recently started raising its ugly head in different parts of the state. Kidnapping for ransom is now the order of the day in the state.
Two weeks ago, a driver attached to Chuks Nwogwugwu, Bursar of Abia State University, Uturu (ABSU) was abducted by gunmen along the Okigwe-ABSU Road.
It was gathered that the gunmen having trailed the Bursar’s Toyota Corolla car from the university main campus, opened fire on getting to a bad spot on the road when the driver slowed down.
Perhaps, with the intention of abducting the Bursar, when the car eventually stopped, the gunmen reportedly rushed to the car, only to find out their target was not inside the vehicle and they made away with the driver.
In the neighbouring Leru axis of Umunneochi, armed herders numbering about 30 were said to have attacked wedding guests. In a gun duel with security personnel, one person was reportedly shot.
The state government has vowed to deal with the rising cases of criminal activities in certain parts of the state which it said had come to the knowledge of the state government and security agencies.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Strategic Communication, Prince Okey Kanu in a statement said that security was one of the cardinal programmes of Alex Otti’s administration, assuring that it was determined to secure the lives and property of Abians.
“To this end, the governor has directed all security agencies operating in Abia State to deal decisively with those criminal elements who create unnecessary fear and panic among the citizenry. Such criminal elements constitute unnecessary cogs in the wheel of progress of Abia State. A hard time awaits all such deviants with the arrival of a new Commissioner of Police, Ken Onwuemelie to the state,” Kanu stated.
Government insists insecurity in Imo subsiding
Addressing the Nigeria Guild of Editors’ Biennial conference in Owerri, the Imo State capital, in June, Governor Hope Uzodimma said that through the Federal Government and the security agencies, the insecurity monster had been tamed and subdued.
“What we are now experiencing are pockets of crime reminiscent of the last kicks of a dying horse. I told you last time that the perpetrators of the heinous crimes would not prevail. Their sole aim was to distract me from the act of governance so they could whittle down my achievements. But they failed woefully because you cannot use your bare hands to cover the moon,” he said.
While the governor was upbeat, happenings in Orlu zone of the state, especially Oguta, Orlu, Orsu councils and even parts of Okigwe, Onuimo, Isiala Mbano councils of Okigwe zone showed that the issue was far from being handled.
Residents could not actually explain what was happening in several communities of Izombe LGA of the state. The place has become desolate as hundreds of people had fled their homes to safety.
They accuse the joint-operations there of indiscriminate killing of innocent people and destruction of their houses.
Natives alleged that at least five persons were killed there in the last two weeks with more than 170 buildings set ablaze by the joint-team of Military, Police, Department of State Security Services (DSS) and the Ebubeagu security outfit.
They said that Izombe and other adjourning communities of Agwa, Ejemekwuru, Awa, Akabo, Mgbele and Ogbaku, in Oguta and Mbaitoli councils, were bleeding.
The situation has adversely affected socio-economic and other activities as markets, schools and churches have remained closed in Izombe for almost eight months.
An indigene of Amakpurudere Izombe village told Sunday Sun that five indigenes of his village had been killed by these security operatives between June 7 and June 19.
But spokesman of the the State Police Command, Henry Okoye, dismissed the allegation of extra-judicial killings against the police.
He said that the ongoing operations were targeted at flushing out and decimating suspected members of the IPOB and its affiliate ESN in the oil-producing community.
Though the situation may have died down in the Orlu, Orsu and Oru areas, but several residents who fled their homes are yet to return.
IPAC, activists score Soludo low in security
The situation in Anambra State as presented by Ihiala Local Government Area is quite pathetic. The Transition Chairman, Kingsley Obi, recently revealed that he runs the activities of the council under trees inside the secretariat complex.
He attributed this to the destruction of 14 buildings in the secretariat by gunmen in January this year.
Obi who spoke to newsmen in Awka, said that the council was totally destroyed by the invading gunmen, and that there were suggestions for him to move to a nearby secretariat in Ekwusigo LGA to continue the running of the council activities, but he rejected it, insisting on doing so under trees in the council secretariat.
He, however, praised Governor Chukwuma Soludo, for promptly responding by beginning immediately to rebuild the destroyed structures.
Obi said: “Ihiala Local Government Area Secretariat was attacked on January 12, 2023, by hoodlums where about 14 buildings were burnt down completely.
“But today, we are almost rounding off the reconstruction of the local government secretariat. Hopefully, in the next two months, everything will return to normalcy again.
“Soludo gave Ihiala LGA more rapid response than any other place. Remember that Nnewi-South Council Secretariat got burnt about two and a half years ago, and they are still on it.”
The council boss blamed fifth columnists for sabotaging efforts at fighting insecurity in the area, saying, however, that security has improved in the area, as no attack had occurred there for two months now.
Our investigations showed that kidnappers, armed robbers and other criminal elements still have a strong grip in some parts of the state.
A community leader in Awka, the state capital, Mr Paulson Okeke, lamented the growing level of insecurity in the state. He called on the government to do more to stem the tide.
“The government is putting efforts, but I think a lot needs to be done because since the inception of this government which stopped touts from operating, most of them took to alternative means of survival.
“And that alternative means of survival is criminality. So, that’s why I said that the government should put in more effort to arrest the situation,” Okeke said.
In a video trending recently, one Ifeanyi Orakwe who lives in Onitsha, the commercial nerve centre of the state, narrated the horrible state of insecurity in that metropolis.
He was reacting to the call by Governor Soludo for Anambra people to return home and invest.
“I am really disturbed about what is going on in Anambra State. I have heard a lot of people on social media calling on Igbo people in the Diaspora to come back home because of what they’re going through in Lagos and other places.
“I want to say this because of Anambra State. I don’t know about Imo, Abia, Enugu. I am talking about Anambra. Ndi Anambra, please don’t come back yet. Our governor, Chukwuma Soludo, went to a town hall meeting in Lagos where he told Ndi Anambra to come back. That’s a welcome development.
“But you people he met in Lagos, did you ask him about the security situation in Anambra now? I am an Anambra man, born in Anambra, grew up in Anambra and I am still living in Anambra.
“Why would they come back home? To come and invest where? What is working in this state now? I think I will plead with Ndi Anambra in the Diaspora to prevail on the government to sit up and discharge its responsibilities well.
“The government that asked you to come back home, did you people ask about the state of security in the state right now? Do you know that people are afraid of going to Nkwelle, Nkpor, Ogidi, Obosi, Abatete from Onitsha?”
Reacting, the State Commissioner for Information, Paul Nwosu, criticised Orakwe, saying that he was not being truthful about the security situation in the state.
“For discerning minds, the video where Orakwe asked Ndi Anambra not to heed their governor’s call to invest in their state comes across as facile and brazen economic sabotage against the people of Anambra.
“This is shamelessly not a true reflection of the comparative progress made with regards to the security of Anambra State in the last 16 months that Governor Soludo has been in office,” Nwosu said.
Recently, the Anambra State’s chapter of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) came hard on Soludo over the “high level of insecurity” in the state.
They said that the governor was performing below their expectation in that area.
Chairman of the group in the state, Chief Uche Ugwoji, in a statement lamented that gunmen, kidnappers and other criminal elements were operating in the state with little or no resistance.
“After one year and counting, the story is not different. Onitsha the commercial nerve centre of the state and the area from where majority of the IGR of the state comes from is a shadow of itself.
“Six O’clock in the evening, people have already locked themselves in, for fear of being kidnapped or robbed. There is palpable fear everywhere due to security lapses, though this was there before the assumption of office of the governor.
“It is common knowledge that the duty of the government is to provide security and welfare for the people. The protection of lives and property, businesses do not thrive in the presence of insecurity.
“In places like Ihiala Local Government Area, the entire area is besieged by the
so-called unknown gunmen to the extent that the indigenes of this area do
burials and marriages at the permission of these hoodlums. We pray the governor to beef up security in these areas,” Ugwoji said.
Cheering news from Nnewi
The people of Nnewi in Anambra South seem to have found a permanent panacea to insecurity in the area.
Their Senator, Ifeanyi Ubah, recently strengthened the community watch in Nnewi and its environs, with a promise for greater commitment to other areas of development under the auspices of Nnewi Concerned Citizens (NCC).
Senator Ubah at a summit held at Anaedo Hall displayed the functionality of CCTV cameras installed in parts of Nnewi to capture activities in the industrial community.
He assured that the facility would be extended to other parts of the senatorial zone soon.
To further enhance the performance of the rebranded community vigilance group in the area, Ubah announced that more than 400 walkie-talkie gadgets, 12 Sienna vehicles and 20 motorcycles had been made available to the security outfits to ensure adequate coverage of their jurisdiction.
He reassured the people of Nnewi and Anambra South residents generally that he would not relent in providing adequate support to the various security outfits.
Noting that no meaningful development could be achieved in an environment devoid of proper security, he applauded the National Communication Commission (NCC) for the agency’s support.
The senator disclosed that parts of communities had been lit up with solar-powered electricity aimed at supporting security agencies in surveillance and security analysis.
The search for solutions
Several persons have proffered possible solutions to the growing insecurity in the Southeast.
Maj. Gen. Collins Ugo Ihekire (rtd) said that every attack cannot possibly be attributed to the IPOB/ESN, pointing out that some criminal elements were hiding under the IPOB/ ESN to perpetrate criminal acts like kidnapping and armed robbery in communities across the region.
He urged the security agencies especially the police, to be opened-minded in the charge of the duties to be able to track those criminals disturbing the society.
The former Commander, Nigeria Contingent to Darfur, Sudan, also noted that unemployment is also a major issue in tackling the prevalent insecurity especially in Imo State where the majority of the youths are unemployed, and are, therefore, susceptible to be recruited into criminal enterprise.
“I think that government should be able to distinguish the action of the IPOB and that of other criminal elements in the society, but if it keeps labelling every attack on IPOB, and with such mindset, the security agencies will find it difficult in sorting out who is really responsible for the attacks in the Southeast. Another problem is the issue of unemployment because the majority of the youths are unemployed and somebody who is unemployed is an idle mind and so the state government must create employment for the youths so that they will not fall into the temptation of taking to crime. The government should also empower the youths with real vocational skills especially with digital skills,” Ihekire urged.
Chairman, Board of Trustees of Imo Youth Assembly, Dr Harold Onumo, also identified the provision of employment as the easiest way of tackling insecurity in the zone.
Unumo who noted that Imo State has the highest unemployment rate in the Southeast because all the industries established by the first governor of old Imo State, Chief Sam Mbakwe, had collapsed.
In Enugu, the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Enugu State, Rev. Emmanuel Edeh and President General, Ekpulato-Mgbowo community in Awgu LGA, Collins Okelu, said that the release of leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, remained a major panacea to peace in the region.
Edeh who said that it was now difficult to separate hoodlums from agitators noted that once Kanu is released, tension in the zone would be doused and the criminal elements in various states would be easily dealt with.
He also called for the convocation of a security summit of stakeholders in the Southeast.
President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, at his inaugural press conference in Enugu, on May 1, indicated that the apex Igbo body in collaboration with other stakeholders would soon organise a security and peace summit.
Edeh also linked insecurity in the zone to Fulani herdsmen whom he said might be collaborating with local hoodlums to perpetrate crime.
He explained: “The menace of the Fulani herdsmen is not helping matters in the Southeast. Whether they are sponsored or not, they are not helping matters. If there is any security report you hear that any Igbo man is part of the menace either as accomplice or collaborators, nobody will be shocked.”
Okelu also said: “The solution now is that we just have to go back to the basics through the Presidents-General and the Igwes, let’s see whether government can give a support so that skill acquisition, it’s no longer formal education, let people get something, if they learn something then we put up a way of monitoring it, let them start practicing it because they always say that idleness is the devil’s workshop. So, if they are gainfully engaged, they might not find enough time to involve in all these criminalities.”
A retired officer of the Nigerian Navy and the Chairman of the Nigerian Legion, Enugu East zone, Chief Kenneth Agu, called on the government to recruit more hands into the security architecture of the state.
He said more unemployed youths and retired security personnel should be injected into the neighbourhood security watch groups.
He said: “Get them into the security groups. They are familiar with every nook and cranny of the community. That will also serve as a means of empowerment.”
Udeh also advocated for the deployment of technology in fighting crime, saying that “government should also invest in drones. This will be used for intelligence gathering. There is also a need for CCTV to be mounted in strategic places in the metropolis so that when there is a security breach, it will be easy to tackle.”
In Ebonyi, elder brother of the slain councillor appealed to the government to take immediate action to tighten security at Okposi, as the entire community now lives in fear and apprehension every day.
Ugwu, an engineer, said: “There is no time than now that the security architecture of the state needed to be reviewed. Emerging cities in the state such as Okposi and other towns should have well-fortified security formations capable of effectively protecting the people and their property.”
