Anambra State Governor, Charles Chukwuma Soludo, says all the gunmen caught in the state so far are indigenes of the south-east.
Dr. Soludo said this on Sunday when he featured on Sunday Politics, a programme on Channels Television.
He also stated that contrary to claims, those perpetrating criminalities are known and not unknown as being reported in the media.
“They are plain criminals. Some of these criminals also hide under the cloak of agitation but IPOB has repeatedly distanced itself from the criminals.
“They are kidnappers and plain criminals and they indulge in these because it is lucrative. Anambra is without a doubt the richest state in the South-East so this is the state where kidnapping has the highest value and so you will have their highest concentration here.
“If you have an Okada rider who goes into the bush; learns how to shoot, and joins a criminal gang after which they kidnap someone and make millions, it won’t be easy convincing such to go back to his Okada business anymore.
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“But we are decimating them. They are not unknown gunmen, they are unknown to the extent that maybe are not caught immediately. But I can tell you we’ve been catching quite a lot of them and they already know that Anambra is not safe for them anymore.
“Anambra is, without a doubt, the richest state in the south-east. So, this is the place where kidnapping has the highest value. So, you have the highest concentration here.
“They are not unknown gunmen. They are unknown to the extent that maybe they are not caught immediately in the act, but I can tell you that we have been catching quite a lot of them and they know that something is happening and that Anambra is not safe for them. Never again.
“Let me be clear about this. 100 percent of all the people that we have caught are Igbos. There is no one who has somebody invading from somewhere. It is 100 percent Igbos on Igbos.
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“The first set of people we caught were 100 percent Igbos from other south-east states and none from Anambra.
“But as we went on, we then discovered that a whole lot of the youths who have been taken to these bushes that got indoctrinated and initiated into all these kinds of things also happen to be citizens of Anambra state or indigenes of Anambra.”
The governor also said his administration is doing everything possible, including using the “stick and carrot” approach, in tackling criminality in the state.
He said “relative peace” has returned to the state because his administration came into power “very determined” to eliminate criminals.
“Their camps are being decimated. It won’t be too long before we pin them down,” he said.
“Anambra has been quite relatively peaceful. We are pursuing this agenda. Compared to many other places in Nigeria, I’ll dare to say — if we are to have the statistics for the past three months — I think Anambra will compete favourably as one of the safest comparatively.”
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