Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo says since he assumed office, his administration has dismantled no fewer than 62 criminal camps across the State.
Speaking with journalists at the State House, Abuja after a closed-door meeting with President Bola Tinubu, the governor said the state had established a vigilante outfit known as Agunechemba, alongside anti-cult, anti-touting and other security structures, which he said were working collaboratively and effectively.
Soludo mentioned that Anambra prides itself as one of the safest states in the country with improved security environment evident during the last Christmas season, when heavy traffic and mass movement were recorded across the state.
“When I assumed office… about 62 criminal camps have been dismantled in Anambra, and we’re not resting for one second,” he said.
He dismissed suggestions that security concerns were the reason for his visit to President Tinubu, saying the meeting covered other matters, while security remained a routine responsibility of the state government.
“I haven’t come to discuss security. Security, we’re dealing with — that’s our routine function,” he said.
On what became of those behind the criminal camps, Soludo declined to provide details, but insisted the camps had been “decimated” and no longer existed anywhere in the state.
Professor Soludo lamented that the Southeast of Nigeria had suffered enormous social, economic and political losses from the Monday sit-at-home enforced across the region for more than five years.
He highlighted that beyond the immediate disruption of business and schooling, the sit-at-home order declared by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) over the incarceration of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, had damaged investor confidence and pushed some people to divert their businesses and investments outside the zone.
The Governor described the losses as “humongous,” stating that the region had forfeited a significant portion of its productive week.
“Every Monday lost is about 20 per cent of the work week,” Soludo said, noting that schools were routinely shut down and economic activity grounded across many communities.
Long Term Implications
He explained that with 52 Mondays in a year, the sit-at-home translated into sustained loss of income, reduced productivity and missed opportunities for growth, with long-term implications for the future of the region.
According to the Governor, the costs were not limited to the present, but would also be felt in the years ahead through weakened competitiveness and shrinking investment inflows.
45,000 Shops Reopened
Soludo said that the tide was turning, as more than 45,000 shops reopened on Monday at the Onitsha Main Market, following efforts by authorities to halt the sit-at-home.
He noted that traders returned in large numbers, with business activity peaking and the atmosphere marked by jubilation.
“You can imagine the largest market in West Africa getting shut one day a week. Just quantify that,” he said.
The governor said he visited the market on Monday last week and witnessed what he described as the joy of tens of thousands of people who chanted and celebrated the return of commercial life.
He said that on the most recent Monday, more than 100,000 people were at the market, with high population of traders, “you couldn’t find space to even put your feet.”
He also said the Onitsha Main Market would be regenerated and restored to its pride of place, noting that years of disorder had degraded its infrastructure, including the conversion of parking lots into clusters of shops.