Criminals In South-East Forests Killing People Bear Christian Names, Says Anambra Governor Soludo

The Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, has emphasised the need for deeper conversation to address the security challenges facing the country.

Speaking during a media chat on Sunday, Soludo noted that the issue of insecurity in the country, particularly in Eastern Nigeria, is not about religion but a deeper societal problem.

“As a country, America has its own rights to have its own views about what is going on elsewhere, but when it comes to what it does, I am sure it must also do what it does in terms of its own response within the realm of its own international law.

“People are killing themselves, Christians killing Christians, the people in the bushes are Emmanuel, Peter, John, all Christian names, and they have maimed and killed thousands of our youths, it has nothing to do with religion,” Soludo said.

He pointed out that in the Southeast, where the majority of the population are Christians, the people involved in the violence bear Christian names, indicating that the issue goes beyond religious categorisation.

“In this part of the country, we are 95 per cent Christians, and around the southeast are Christians. The people in the bushes killing people bear Christian names; it is wider than the categorisation of Christians, Muslims.. Nigeria will overcome and it will end in conversation.”

Soludo emphasised that Nigeria will overcome its security challenges and that it will end in conversation.

“I think there is a need for deeper conversation. It must end in conversation, and I am sure the government of Nigeria will respond very robustly on behalf of Nigeria,” he said.

He noted that Nigeria is a big country, and the government is doing a lot to safeguard the country.

Soludo identified the major security challenges in the state as kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism, drug abuse, and touting, which he described as interlinked issues that reinforce one another.

“We responded massively when we came in, and among other things, a vigilante strike force was established to work closely with federal security agencies,” Soludo said. He noted that all the previously sieged local government areas have been successfully reclaimed from the gunmen.

The Governor emphasised the need for collective action, reiterating that the fight against insecurity cannot be won by the government alone.

“These criminals are our brothers, our sisters, our husbands, our relations, and our friends. They are not spirits. They live among us, and we know them,” he stated, re-echoing his earlier call on citizens to support the government’s security initiatives.

Soludo disclosed plans to revalidate and retrain the personnel of the Anambra Vigilante Group to enhance their efficiency in combating crime. He also announced the recruitment of forest guards drawn from the vigilante group to protect the state’s forests, which criminals frequently use as hideouts.

The Governor further revealed that Operation Udo Ga-Achị, a security intervention initiative aimed at restoring peace across Anambra, will be launched soon. “We are ready to once again take them head-on, but this time we shall triple our efforts and expand the scope and depth of our operation,” he said.

Soludo’s comments come at a time the United States President, Donald Trump, threatened military intervention in Nigeria over alleged genocidal killing of Christians in Nigeria.

President Trump had earlier designated Nigeria as a country of particular concern.(SaharaReporters)