Anambra Governor Charles Soludo says gunmen no longer have the capability to carry out deadly attacks in the state.
Soludo, an economics professor and former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), made the remarks while evaluating the government’s performance since he took office as the state’s Chief Security Officer.
He stated on Sunday that the current administration in Anambra has successfully reduced the state’s security threats.
“Giving where things were when we came, we are not saying that Anambra is 100% secured … but everybody in Anambra – the 8.5 million residents of Anambra can testify to you that insecurity in Anambra has come down to the barest minimum,” he said during his appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics monitored by Newsclick Nigeria.
“Fifteen camps (run by gunmen) here (have been) decimated. Even yesterday (Saturday), some other places (where) they were gathering were decimated; we have degraded their infrastructure and I don’t think they have the capacity again to come with the kind of ferocity they had in the past.”
Before 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.”