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The seismic insecurity in Anambra State

Published

2 years ago

October 16, 2024

Whirlwindnews

Chekwube Nzomiwu

Yet again, the insecurity in Anambra State claimed three precious lives last week. The deceased who were members of the crew of Supersport were killed when their vehicle ran into an ambush by gunmen at Iseke, a border town of Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State to Orlu, Imo state. Luckily, security operatives rescued six members of the crew, while one is yet to be accounted for, according to reports in the media. The dead were identified as a cameraman, police officer and driver.

They were on their way to Uyo, Akwa Ibom State to cover the AFCON qualifying match between the Super Eagles of Nigeria and their Libyan counterpart, when the gunmen struck. This incident occurred on October 8, 2024, about three days before the October 11 AFCON qualifier, which the Nigerian side won by a lone goal.

This latest attack once more brought to the front burner, the terrifying level of insecurity in Anambra State under the administration of Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo. Four days before the Iseke incident involving the Supersport crew, the police foiled an attempt to kidnap a foreign expatriate working for a construction company at Ogbunka, Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra State. The expatriate, a Syrian national narrowly escaped abduction, but two of his police guards were shot by the gunmen. The police spokesman in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikenga who confirmed this report in a statement, said the injured policemen were in stable condition.

Two days prior to the Ogbunka incident, unidentified gunmen killed two policemen at Uruagu Nnewi community in Nnewi North Local Government Area of the State. According to media reports, the attackers hurled an impoverished explosive device at the police team and it exploded immediately, killing the two policemen instantly at the spot.

Between August and September, gunmen attacked three police stations in Anambra State, namely the Divisional Police Station Oba and Nnobi Police Station, both in Idemili South Local Government Area and Nnewi Police Station. The attacks claimed the lives of policemen. Last year, nine members of a United Nations entourage, including policemen, were brutally murdered by gunmen at Ogbaru Local Government while on a visit to an erosion site in the area.

Besides the remote areas, the insecurity in Anambra State extended to Awka, the capital city and its adjoining communities, which have all become hotbeds for bloody clashes between rival cult groups. In Awka in particular, people are lynched, maimed, butchered and killed in broad daylight. While the media reports some of these gory incidents, many go unreported.

Some people would argue though that insecurity is a national malady. However, the situation in Anambra State has assumed a very dangerous dimension that some parts of the State are now being called Sambisa, after Sambisa Forest, the main base of the Boko Haram insurgents in the North East.

More worrisome is that the Soludo administration appears to have been overwhelmed by the insecurity, which is currently rocking the State like a volcanic eruption. Rather than confront the seismic security situation bedeviling his domain, Governor Soludo, the Chief Security Officer of Anambra State who receives almost one billion Naira monthly as security vote, keeps looking for a scapegoat to blame for the insecurity in the State.

In February this year, he said that the fight against insecurity in Anambra State has been hindered by the infiltration of vigilante operatives by criminals. To me, such an excuse, coming from a Governor who took an oath to strive to preserve the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, contained in Chapter II of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), sounds ridiculous. Under the aforementioned chapter, Section 14 (2) (b) clearly states that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government;”

Therefore, it is the duty of the government to safeguard lives and property in Anambra State and not the vigilante operatives who are not recognized by the Nigerian law. If Professor Soludo has lost confidence in the vigilante operatives, the constitutionally recognised security apparatuses of the Nigerian State, such as the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps and even the Military, are at his disposal.

The excuse that criminals infiltrated the vigilante operatives cannot be an alibi for the Governor’s inability to secure the state. The vigilante operatives are meant to complement the efforts of the security agencies of the Nigerian State who are better trained and equipped in handling security matters. So, what’s the fuss about the infiltration of the vigilante groups?

Soludo should please swallow his pride and learn from his nearby counterparts, Peter Mba of Enugu State and Alex Otti of Abia State who have both exhibited the political will and capacity to confront the security challenges on ground when they assumed office. In Enugu for instance, Mba has empowered the police and the military with the necessary equipment, including vehicles, operational and communication gadgets, drones and other advanced technology, needed to confront the insecurity in Enugu State. Surveillance cameras have been mounted all over the Enugu capital city, to monitor the movement of people and vehicles in the city.

To attract both indigenous and foreign investors, security is very paramount. The efforts of Governor Peter Mba in the area of security have started yielding results with the influx of investors into Enugu State, to revamp moribund industries, such as the Sunrise Flour Mills Enugu and Enugu United Palm Products Limited, Ibite Olo, Ezeagu Local Government Area of the State.

Unfortunately, rather than pay attention to the insecurity plaguing Anambra State, which his government used as an excuse for delaying local government election, Soludo appears to be obsessed with how to control the allocation coming to the 21 local government areas of the State from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC). Having been obligated by the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria to conduct local government election, which he failed to do for over two and half years, he introduced a bill in the Anambra State House of Assembly, to compel the 21 councils to remit a portion of their allocation to a consolidated account controlled by the State Government. In spite of public outcry, the House of Assembly passed the bill, which is now awaiting the Governor’s assent. This is ludicrous, considering the fact that the Supreme Court granted the councils financial autonomy.

Quoting former Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, “the lack of local government autonomy potentially inhibits solutions as well as efforts by the federal and state governments towards addressing the nation’s security challenges.” This statement made by Lawan in an interview with State House Correspondents in Abuja in May last year, aptly corroborates scientific evidence from a research paper published in the International Journal of Public Administration and Management (IJPAMR) Volume 6. No. 4, 2021. Ubi and Akie in the paper titled, “Local Government System and Escalation of Insecurity in Nigeria, concluded that if the local government system functions at full capacity, rural people will be empowered, rural urban migration curbed, local economy enhanced, youths provided with direct and indirect jobs, and thus, they will not be given to crime, which triggers insecurity..”

I therefore expect Professor Soludo to live up to his billing as a distinguished Professor of Economics and a consummate public servant, having served at different times as the Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria and the de facto Minister of National Planning. He should quickly re-order his priorities by making the insecurity one of the focal points of his administration.

In conclusion, Soludo should allow the councils to enjoy the autonomy that they were granted by the Supreme Court, to enable them perform optimally. A functional local government will help to end the alarming insecurity in Anambra State.

Dr. Nzomiwu, communication scholar, media consultant and political scientist, is an indigene of Ozubulu in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State

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ADC spits fire! Demands arrest of Lifu *Says, Abuja judge, playing with fire!

Published

1 day ago

June 16, 2026

Whirlwindnews

“He is running in contempt of the court. Justice Lifu should be arrested because he is acting in contempt of the court which is a criminal act,” were the exact words with which the African Democratic Congress (ADC), demonstrated its angst over the court ruling on Monday, ordering its de-registration as a political party in Nigeria.

A furious Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesman of the party, told his host while appearing as a guest on Monday’s edition of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television that the judge of the Abuja Federal High Court who gave the order was actually playing with fire because of the consequences.

Directly accusing him of playing the script of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to ensure that President Bola Tinubu emerged the sole candidate for the 2027 presidential election, the party spokesman, was emphatic that the plan would not work, as head or tail, ADC must be on the ballot in all the elections.

Hear him: “There is a Court of Appeal order saying don’t hear this case until October 27. So, on what basis? You can’t place something on nothing. The Court of Appeal said don’t act on this until I hear it on October 27. So, on what basis did he deliver the judgement

“So, for us in the African Democratic Congress, what we’re convinced and they know is what they have done has no leg to stand on legally. What they want to do is to create doubts in the minds of the people that this ADC has too many legal cases, can we actually run on this? And to distract us. But we’re not distracted.

“We’re very clear. It was in spite of all they have done since ADC came on board that we ran one of the best and one of the most comprehensive direct primaries in the history of democracy in Nigeria. So, we are strong enough to withstand this. And that’s why I’m saying that we are going to contest in 2027. We’re ADC. We don’t buckle before dictatorship.”

Stressing on the implication of the judgement, which also affected Accord Party (AP), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) for allegedly failing to meet constitutional and electoral performance requirements, following a suit by the National Forum of Former Legislators, he said it portended grave danger.

He added: “We are not surprised. We know that the Nigerian people believe that there is a problem with the judiciary, but what we did not expect is the level of judicial rascality that was demonstrated today.

“What we are saying is that we reject it in its totality, and we are saying that the people behind this are playing with fire. Hundreds, if not thousands, have obtained nomination forms and contested elections and emerged as candidates on the platform of the ADC.”

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Deregistration of ADC: Don’t destroy democracy, Obi warns judiciary

Published

1 day ago

June 16, 2026

Whirlwindnews

Peter Obi, candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), in the 2027 presidential election, is peeved at the decision of the Federal High Court, Abuja, ordering the de-registration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), saying the move is a heavy blow and dangerous to Nigeria’s democracy.

Justice Peter Lifu, who made the order, based on an action brought by National Forum of Former Legislators, agreed that the parties, including Accord Party (AP), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), failed to meet the requirement for continued existence in Nigeria.

But Obi, who left the ADC coalition to join the NDC, incidentally, based on what he explained resulted from the multiple court cases hanging on its neck, expressed his disenchantment, in a statement by the Peter Obi Media Reach (POMR), on Monday.

Signed by Ibrahim Umar, its spokesman, the group quoted the former Governor of Anambra State as decrying the growing damage to the nation’s sacred institutions on the altar of politics.

Stressing that the rise of nations depended on stronger institutions devoid of political influences, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, wrote on his X platform: “When the controversy surrounding the removal of the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, unfolded, I expressed a concern to a friend: that the greatest damage might not be immediate, but the message it sends about the sanctity and independence of our institutions to the world.

“Strong economies are built on trust. Investors can manage security risks, policy risks, and even market risks. What they fear most is uncertainty in the rule of law and a judiciary that is perceived to be vulnerable to political pressure.

“Today, many Nigerians have lost confidence in systems that should protect them. Businesses increasingly request that their contracts be governed by foreign jurisdictions because they have greater confidence in those institutions than in our own. That should concern every patriot.

“We must never sacrifice our sacred institutions on the altar of politics. Nations rise when institutions are stronger than individuals. The Federal High Court judgment ordering the deregistration of the ADC and other political parties is just one of those activities that further reduces the common man’s trust in our legal systems. It should be reversed.

“I pledge that we will restore the dignity, independence, and integrity of the judiciary. The common man must have a voice. The business community must be protected from legal uncertainty and intimidation. Justice must be impartial, accessible, and respected by all. To our judges, legal luminaries, senior advocates, and lawyers: this is your moment. Rise, defend the rule of law, take back your country! A new Nigeria is POssible.”

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Cape Verde stuns global pundits with barren draw against Spain

Published

1 day ago

June 16, 2026

Whirlwindnews

Not even Lamine Yamal’s second half introduction could help Spain break through the defence of debutants, Cape Verde, in their first ever meeting, as the ongoing World Cup event produced another one of the stunning results on Monday.

Yamal, the Barcelona superstar just recovering from a near two-month hamstring injury, was brought into the game in the second half to zest up the one-time world champion, but failed to break down the Cape Verde’s dogged defence.

Spain’s in the game played in Atlanta, one of the cities hosting the three-nation Mundial, displayed the same dismal outing, which saw them offering far less than the quality, which saw them lifting the trophy for the first time in 2010.

The European champions, which have not won a knockout game ever since, failed to dominate the African side, replicating their less than impressing outings and their eventual exit in 2018 and 2022 editions, even with the claims of coach Luis de la Fuente that the squad was the best in the competition, Spain were considered among the pre-tournament.

Neither Yamal nor Nico Williams, who also was hit by an injury-disrupted season at Athletic Bilbao and was not introduced until the 87th minute, were able to rise to the occasion against the 500,000 people African side, ranked 67 in the world, which is making their debut on the global stage.

In stark contrast to the searing temperatures faced by some other sides, Atlanta’s state-of-the-art air conditioned stadium meant there was no excuses for the slow tempo of Spain’s build-up.

Indeed the mid-half hydration break was met by boos with fans frustrated at the break in play despite the cool conditions.

The only serious move from the European champions only came at the sixth minute to half-time, when Marc Cucurella, fresh for sealing his move from Chelsea to Real Madrid, sent over a teasing cross that Ferran Torres turned onto the crossbar and Cabo Verde goalkeeper Vozinha got back on his feet to turn Mikel Oyarzabal’s looping header over the bar.

Even after the break, the Blue Sharks, were also able to hold back from the onslaught as they did in the first half, where Vozinho, managed to make another superlative save against Aymeric Laporte’s header just before half-time.

Despite the excitement from the crowd after he was introduced, Yamal, billed as one of the stars of the tournament, failed to create any magic with his first touch being the set-up of a decent opening for fellow substitute Mikel Merino which was too close to Vozinha.

In fact, Cabo Verde billed to take on Uruguay in Miami, nearly snatched a famous victory in the final minute of the 90 when Dani Borges planted a header too close to Unai Simon, who saved the occasion, to prevent the former world champions, billed to face Saudi Arabia in Atlanta on Sunday from humiliation.

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