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Anambra killings evidence of Soludo’s bad governance – Nwosu
John Chuma Nwosu, governorship candidate of the African Development Congress (ADC), on Wednesday explained Tuesday’s killing of four people in Onitsha by operatives of Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra, otherwise known as OCHA Brigade as evidence of the bad governance the people of Anambra have been suffering in the hands of Charles Soludo, Governor of Anambra State, in the last three and half years.
Nwosu, one of the special guests at the Second Anual Public Lecture instituted by Obi Nnaemeka Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha, told reporters in Awka after the event that Soludo’s government had brought nothing but tears and sorrow in the state since assumption of office, adding that Anambra people could not bear to have him in control of the state for another four year.
His words: “It is the clear evidence of bad governance. For the past three and half years, what Anambra people have been suffering is bad governance. Therefore, anybody that is talking about giving the government of Prof. Charles Soludo another four years does not mean well for Anambra State.
“Our people are overtaxed and brutalised. What happened in Onitsha yesterday was a clear evidence of chaos in our environment, which is ochastrated by the government of Charles Soludo. Anambra people must do the needful and ensure that the government is kicked out because it has proven that it has nothing good to offer.
READ ALSO: Soludo cries foul as commissioner allegedly attacked by thugs
Nwoso, who had earlier issued a statement, titled: Soludo Must Stop These Killings, Anambra Is Not A Jungle, had chronicled a series of other incidents to prove that that of Onitsha was not an isolated case, while calling on the governor to put a leash on his men to save the state further bloodshed.
In a statement he personally signed, he wrote: “Today, I received with great distress the sad news about the killing of four vibrant compatriots Onitsha. Their lives were cut short albeit, untimely, by individuals identified as operatives of Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra, otherwise known as OCHA Brigade, who stormed the Emeka Offor Plaza at Onitsha Main Market. These victims include a pregnant woman. They were caught in a hail of bullets as these said operatives reportedly shot indiscriminately in a crowded market.
“That this incident is saddening, is a gross understatement to say the least. It is more so given that this is not an isolated case, but an addition to the growing list of untimely deaths in the hands of state-sanctioned actors – whose modus operendi is demonstrated by manifest show of recklessness, irresponsibility, foolhardiness and impunity of the highest order that have pervaded Anambra the state in the most recent years.
“Eyewitnesses state that the sequence that led to these killings was the outcome of mere altercations between the operatives, whose main duty is purely to “ensure environmental sustainability, enforcing government policies on cleanliness, order and discipline and improving the overall health of the state,” and some traders whose wares they had tried to confiscate as usual. For that simple reason, they started firing indiscriminately, forcing traders and other people around the popular market to scamper in different directions for safety.
“Not satisfied and obviously enjoying the panic and chaos their action created, they continued in the orgy until these fatalities occurred. Now, why should a simple environmental issue lead to shootings? Were the lives of the operatives threatened in anyway? What manner of threat would warrant carrying guns loaded with live bullets into a market place, let alone using them? These are questions many people have been asking.
“But such questions could only come from those not watching events in the last few years when Anambra practically took a dive into the abyss of hopelessness occassioned by poor governance and absence of prioritising the true needs of the people as well as formulating a clear roadmap towards achieving them.
“Nobody else should take the blame for the death of these four compatriots whose only crime was to venture into the market to try an eke out their living in a desperate economy but Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, for his cluelessness in managing the affairs of Anambra State in the last three-plus years.
“Not only that he is responsible for employing crude methods of running the state himself, his penchant for turning the blind eye, and ignoring the activities of the armies of untrained and unrestrained henchmen roaming all parts of the streets, has increased the level of unmitigated impunity for which the state is now bearing the brunt and for which the land is again being soaked with the blood of these innocent victims. What a terrible testimonial!
“Only recently, the world was regaled with the story of Jennifer Edohor, the female National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, stripped naked and brutalised by members of the Agunechemba under the command of Operation Udogachi. Before then, there have been a surfiet of other much more sordid and notorious cases.
“Recall the incident of the three young men working as wrought iron designers working for their client at a new building in Owere-Ezukala, Orumba South Local Government Area by the selfsame Agunechemba in February this year and labelled armed robbers only to be discovered to be innocent.
“There was the case of one Chiamaka Okeke, another victim killed by stray bullets as men of the same security outfit reportedly fired indiscriminately at Ibeto Junction in Nnewi North LGA. They were said to have opened fire simply because the police controlling traffic were wasting their time. That was in April this year. In June the family of a 12-year-old boy, another victim, was thrown into mourning when the lad, reportedly sitting quietly on a culvet near a gutter in Nwangene Street, Onitsha, was hit by a stray bullet fired by the same operatives of the government.
“The case of Okechukwu Akaname, Chairman of Onitsha Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (OCCIMA) whose life ended in agony recently after he was thrown into a vegetative state by operatives of Anambra State Waste Management Authority (ASWAMA), who broke his spine over issues of revenue collection, is also fresh. These are just few cases outside other numerous attacks and brutality unleashed on citizens by these henchmen, including men of the notorious Aka-Odo, whose penchant for torturing people leaves galling impressions on decent people.
“In my speech, while flagging off my campaign on August 8, I had assured the people of Anambra that I have heard their cries of anguish from the current government. I had also alerted the world that not only has Soludo failed the people of Anambra State but that the much-advertised “Soludo Solution” has become “Soludo Pollution.” I had made a firm commitment that the government of the ADC, which I will lead will replace the old, crude method of doing things by employing modern global templates and best practices based on scientific methods.
“In my total overhaul and transformation agenda for Anambra, using ICT, an area in which I am well vast as an investor and expert, not only did I clearly indicate that I am not only going to run a goverment that will be in partnership with Anambra people, I had emphasised that the model will have minimal contact with them to avoid cases of brutality for whatever purpose, be it in crime control, provision of security or revenue generation.
“But before that time comes, as I encourage Ndi-Anambra to continue to bear the pain unleashed on them by this government, let me take this same opportunity to appeal to Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo to leash these murderous gangs and end the bloodletting in the state.
“I demand that these killings must stop immediately. In the immediate case, those responsible for the killing of these four people in Onitsha must be brought to book alongside others who had committed such atrocious acts in the past.
“It has become evident that these people have overshot their bounds. I understand the panic and desperation to create fear in Anambra State as part of the plot to remain in power. But even desperation must have a limit. Only a jungle or the Hobbesian State of nature where life is short, brutish and nasty will permit what is happening in Anambra State today. It must stop!”
The door is now shut permanently in the face of the Federal Government towards taking up the 12.5 – being the remainder of its proposed 20 per cent stake in the Dangote Refineries, Africa’s first privately owned concern.
That means the government would now be stuck with the 7.5 per cent only it was able to pick up and which it currently holds in the $20 billion, 650 barrels per day capacity refinery, which came into operation in 2023 as the concern is insisting it is no longer interested in the remaining 12.5 per cent stake.
Instead of the government, the organisation, currently responsible for the supply of the major chunk of petroleum products in Nigeria and many parts of Africa, is now planning to bring in ordinary Nigerians into the mix to lap up the stake in the near future.
Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, who made the revelation, Nicolai Tangen, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), that the group had since rejected requests by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, to increase its 7.25 per cent stake in the firm.
The PUNCH, quoted the African Richest Man (ARM), as saying in the interview that the NNPC’s offer to increase its 7.25 per cent stake in the refinery was rejected because the company Dangote was planning to go public and give other Nigerians the opportunity to own shares in the plant.
Dangote had revealed that after acquiring the original 7.5 per cent in 2021, for $1bn, with an option to acquire the remaining 12.75 per cent stake by June 2024, NNPC Limited began to stall, and ended up reneging on its decision.
However, the national oil company had made attempts to acquire more stakes in the refinery, since that, but this was turned down, adding that the biggest risks the business could face were either civil war and government policy inconsistencies.
Hear him: “Actually, if there are civil wars, which is not in the offing at all. The other biggest risk is government inconsistencies in policies, and we are addressing that one because if you look at our refinery, the national oil company already owns 7.25 per cent, and they are trying to buy more. We are the ones that said no; we want to now spread it and have everybody be part of it.”
Dangote, had in 2014, informed Nigerians on how, Mele Kyari, former Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (GMD-CEO), had reduced NNPC’s stake in the refinery from 20 per cent to 7.25 per cent.
He had said then: “The agreement was actually 20 per cent, which we had with NNPC, and they did not pay the balance of the money up until last year; then we gave them another extension up until June (2024), and they said that they would remain where they had already paid, which is 7.2 per cent. So NNPC owns only 7.2 per cent, not 20 per cent.
The business mogul, who painted a seducing picture of what is at stake in the new opportunities, including the provision of getting dividends in foreign currencies, told his Norwegian host: “What we are announcing is that when you invest in any of our businesses going forward, in cement or in the refinery, in petrochemicals, in fertiliser, we guarantee to pay you a dividend in dollars because we are very well into exports. 80 per cent of our revenue will be in dollars.”
Explaining how he sourced funds for building the refinery, from various financial institutions, including Nigerian banks, he said the initial plan was to fund most of the construction work from our internally generated funds, but because of naira devaluation, the group had to rely on Afreximbank, Africa Finance Corporation, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, UBA and a couple of the local banks.
“But of course we also have a very good relationship with the Standard Bank of South Africa and, at the beginning, Standard Chartered Bank of the UK. We were lucky and what happened when the plant was completed turned out to be much more than our own expectations.”
The coast has brightened for Siminalayi Fubara, Governor of Rivers State, having been given the opportunity of obtaining the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket for next year’s governorship election, contrary to reports in some quarters that he has been denied.
Vanguard reports that he was one of the 30 governors cleared by the party’s screening committee, including Hope Uzodimma of Imo, a two-term governor, who is currently eyeing a seat at the Senate.
Others cleared, included Sarafadeen Alli, former Secretary to the Oyo State Government (SSG), for the 2027, the report said, quoting sources, who revealed that the screening report was yet to be released due to a deluge of petitions flooding the party.
To beat the deadline by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for the submission of the list of the names of successful candidates, the party said it now would publish the names of cleared aspirants on May 13.
Regarding the dithering on the release of the 2,980, comprising of one aspirants for one presidential slot, 28 governorship, 109 Senate, 360 House of Representatives, and 991 state assembly positions, a source was quoted as saying: “We are still working on the screening report to make sure everything goes well. The day is not over yet.
“We received many petitions from the eight panels that conducted the primaries. For instance, one of the panels received 10 petitions and the petitions have to be treated on their merit.”
Regarding the fate of Fubara, the source was quoted as saying the governor, whose tenure has been dogged by much of internal and external battles even after joining the APC last year, the source confirmed that he was not disqualified as speculated.
His words: “Nooo! No governor has been booted out. The party has always supported its governors. Some of them like Uzodimma got automatic clearance. To ensure we have a united front in 2027, we are working towards consensus but where that fails, direct primaries will be held in accordance with the Electoral Act. We know some of the high-profile aspirants don’t want to consent, and are ready to go to court. We don’t want that.”
After years of public outcries by individuals, groups and civil society organisations, the Imo State Police Command finally took steps against the controversial Anti-Kidnapping Unit, popularly known as Tiger Base.
The agency, described by many as notorious for rights abuses, was scrapped, by the Command, along with other tactical squads with similar identities, which have now been replaced with a newly created Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU) aimed at tackling rising violent crimes across the state.
The development was announced at the Police Command Headquarters in Owerri, the Imo State capital, marking one of the most significant policing reforms in the state in recent years following growing public concerns over the activities of Tiger Base.
Other tactical formations affected by the disbandment include the Scorpion Unit and the Lion Squad, whose operations were closely linked to the now-defunct outfit.
Speaking during the inauguration of the new unit, the Commissioner of Police, CP Audu Garba Bosso, said the reform was in compliance with the directive of the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to reposition tactical operations nationwide and strengthen professionalism within the Force.
Bosso said the newly established VCRU would focus on intelligence-driven operations against armed robbery, kidnapping, cultism, terrorism, illegal possession of firearms, and other violent crimes.
According to him, officers drafted into the unit were carefully selected based on competence, discipline, integrity, and operational experience.
He disclosed that the operatives had undergone intensive training in tactical response, intelligence gathering, crisis management, and human rights compliance to ensure lawful and professional conduct.
“The inauguration of the VCRU reflects our commitment to professional policing, public safety, and improved service delivery to the people of Imo State,” the police commissioner stated.
In a move seen as an attempt to rebuild public trust, the command also inaugurated a Civilian Oversight Board comprising representatives of the Nigerian Bar Association, civil society organisations, traditional rulers, religious leaders, and the Nigeria Union of Journalists.
The board is expected to monitor the activities of the unit, receive complaints from members of the public, and provide independent feedback to the Commissioner of Police.
The event attracted top government officials, heads of security agencies, members of the Police Community Relations Committee, youth organisations, and human rights groups.
Governor Hope Uzodinma, represented by the Chief Principal Security Officer, ACP Gboyako Shaba Adamu, commended the initiative and pledged continued support for security agencies in combating insecurity across the state.
Observers believe the scrapping of Tiger Base and the creation of the VCRU may signal a new chapter in tactical policing in Imo State, especially amid increasing calls for accountability and respect for human rights by security operatives.
The ceremony featured the unveiling of the VCRU logo, presentation of its operational dress code, and goodwill messages from stakeholders.
Residents were urged to support the new unit with credible information to aid crime-fighting efforts across the state.
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