We've recovered over 60 camps occupied by gunmen in Anambra - Soludo

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By Madu Obi

Anambra State governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo has said that the state has recovered over 60 camps occupied by gunmen before he became governor due to security outfits his administration has established.

Addressing journalists at the Government House to mark 34th anniversary of the creation of Anambra State, Soludo said that time was when the entire Anambra South was a no - go area, adding that the security situation in the zone and other parts of the state has greatly improved.

"When I took over on March 17 , 2022, Anambra was literally under a siege, such that the whole seven local government areas in Anambra South and Ogbaru in Anambra North were controlled by gunmen and non state actors. Even as governorship candidates, we could not campaign in those local governments.

One candidate who was abducted while we were campaigning has not been seen till today. As a contestant I was even attacked. The state was like a war zone, but we are happy that over sixty camps of the gunmen have been destroyed.and the eight local government areas are now under our control."

According to the governor, the best testimony was that the August 16 bye-elections successfully took place in those seven local government areas that make up Anambra South. The election was held in all the 118 wards in the zone. .

"From day one of this administration, we set up vigilante groups in all the 21 local government areas and we offered amnesty for all the criminals in the bushes so that we could give them a new life", the governor said.

He added that his administration has trained and empowered over 5000 youths, adding that many of them are from Anambra South senatorial zone.

He said further: "We also set up Ocha Brigade and the state anti -touting outfits and we have deployed technology and adopted kinetic and non kinetic approach in fighting insecurity such that Anambra is today one of the safest states in the country. It was an intentional decision to take back our state.

Also early this year, we signed into law, the homeland security law that formalized the Agunechemba and the Udo ga- achi security intervention force. With this, places where people dared to pass, like Upper Iweka in Onitsha, had become sights to behold with water fountains now."

He recalled that when he was campaigning, the only thing Onitsha traders demanded was for him to make the city safe for them to carry out their businesses, noting that although it is not yet uhuru, the difference is there for everyone to see.

Soludo said his administration is developing Anambra State with the intention of what the state would be in another 100 to 200 years.

"Our projection is that by 2070, we will have about 35million people living in this place called Anambra and everywhere would have been built up."

Soludo expressed happiness about the steady rise of Anambra State through successive administration, stating that the state has been on an upward trajectory all along.

Commending the former governors of the state, Soludo said: "In this 34 years of our existence, Anambra has been on an upward trajectory of development, from the military administrators to the democratically elected governors. From Chukwuemeka Ezeife to Mbadinuju to Ngige to Peter Obi, then Obiano and now, the state has been on upward trajectory."

He said further: "We are prioritizing investment over transient consumption. Our own model of stomach infrastructure is different and it is modelled towards creating opportunities for a wide range of people, to lift the boat for millions of people.

We are not doing stomach infrastructure where we dip our hands in the government coffers to give few people money. That is not the kind of government we run, and people who are used to free money from government are not happy.

There is very limited resources with government, so we don't have enough to share because the needs of the people are humongous.

Our stomach infrastructure model is such that we have put money back into the hands of the people. The free education policy and the free antenatal are all putting money back in the pocket of the people because they keep back the money their would have paid.

It is better than giving appointments to thousands of people who will do nothing; that is not the kind of stomach infrastructure we mean.

"Our model of stomach infrastructure is much broader and creating value. You don't have to take the resources of the state and dash it to a few people and you call that stomach infrastructure. That is how we are wired."