It is heartwarming to note that Anambra State which was writhing in the throes of disintegration owing to the siege laid by criminals on it is gradually returning to normalcy. Not long ago, it was terrifying to access certain parts of the state due to those places having been annexed by criminals, mostly masquerading as freedom fighters.
And while some people chose to apply sentiments because of what those criminals claimed to be fighting for, Anambra Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, called the spade by its name and clamped down on them, taking the fight to them, and busting their camps through the joint efforts of the conventional security and local vigilantes, and today the state is experiencing a new lease of life.
It has always been clear that those claiming to be agitating for what they call the State of Biafra are far from what they claim to be. They are criminals of several hue who found the Biafra agitation as a perfect cover to perpetrate their evil deeds.
While many of them truly believe in Biafra, it is their modus operandi that however makes nonsense of what they claim to be doing. Kidnapping for ransom thus became their pastime, with some victims being killed even after payment of the ransom. The way they were going, it was inevitable that they would overrun the entire state in just a matter of time.
But thanks to the efforts of Gov Soludo, the criminals are on the run and many of their hideouts have been busted. Soludo has never shied away from proclaiming that 90.99% of those perpetrating these atrocious acts are Igbo people and not the Fulani as the perpetrators and their supporters want people to believe. And indeed, in all the arrests made by the security Agencies it is our own people that are involved.
Soludo has not stopped there. He has also taken the fight to enablers of crime, such as the so-called native doctors, who prepare charms for the criminals in the hope that they will become invincible.
These native doctors have done more harm than good to their society by misleading many youths that the end justifies the means after which ill-gotten wealth is flaunted. Since the fight against these native doctors began, a fight leading to the arrest of some of them, there, has been what looks like a semblance of sanity.
It is however disappointing that our people, rather than tell themselves the truth, choose to wallow in self-deceit by sympathizing with these people as their homeland gets overrun. That was how we came to where we are today.
We heartily thank Gov Soludo for what he is doing and urge him not to relent. There should be no hiding place for criminals. Those caught, no matter their status, must be made to face the full wrath of the law to serve as a deterrent to others, especially the younger generation.
No one is above the law, despite what they may seem to represent. we are happy with what Soludo has been able to achieve in this direction and we urge the citizenry to support by exposing the bad ones in their midst.
