Two Catholic priests (names withheld for security reasons) were abducted penultimate Tuesday in Anambra State. It was at the boundary between Isuofia and Igbo-Ukwu in Aguata Local Government Area (LGA). Initially, the abductors didn’t find enough money in the bank accounts of the priests. But fortune smiled on them when the hidden phone of one of the priests rang. The phone was linked to a school bank account as the priest was a school manager. The criminals checked it and discovered about N3.2 million in the account. The money was students’ school fees for the current term. Pronto, they transferred the entire money to an account, which apparently belonged to one of them. Satisfied, they released the priests about 1am at Umuoji in Idemili North LGA with a warning that the next few weeks would be terrible in the East because many youths now have guns

Just as they warned, some gunmen went on the rampage in the same Aguata LGA last Tuesday. They killed a traffic officer at Ekwulobia roundabout and at least four other innocent people in different communities. After robbing at Jezco Filling Station in the same Ekwulobia, they mistakenly left one of the men behind. When a crowd of people surged to apprehend the bandit, he reportedly threw some wads of naira notes in their direction. As the crowd scrambled for the money, he jumped on a waiting bike and zoomed off. There was no police anywhere to confront them.

Elsewhere in the South-East, crime rate has drastically risen. In Orlu, Imo State, for instance, reports of killings and other criminal activities are frightening. Many indigenes now live in fear.

I knew it would come to this. Last year, some so-called unknown gunmen had driven the police and other security agents out of the scene in many parts of the South-East. In Anambra State, for instance, they attacked police checkpoints at Nkpologwu, Omogho, Neni and a naval checkpoint at Awkuzu. Some naval personnel and police officers were killed in the attacks.

They also attacked some police stations and killed scores of policemen. In Imo State, they attacked police stations in such places as Umulowo, Isiala Mbano, Oromo and Ihitte Uboma. Some police personnel lost their lives and weapons in the attacks. In Abia, they attacked the police at Abiriba, Omoba, Abayi, and some other places. In 2020, the police were weakened by the #EndSARS protests against police brutality. Over 60 policemen were killed in the protests and over 200 police stations burnt.

The action against the police made it possible for many non-state actors to have access to guns. Some of these criminals don’t have any visible means of livelihood. With the police out of the way and with the guns in their hands, they began to terrorize and rob innocent people.

Of course, unemployment and poverty contribute largely to the current problem. The bandits, who abducted the two priests earlier mentioned here, reportedly spoke angrily about government not giving jobs to the youths. One of them said he would use the money realized from their operation that day to pay his sister’s school fees and his rent. At 33.3 per cent, the rate of unemployment is high in Nigeria and, if nothing is done to confront this problem, the situation will worsen.

No doubt, Igbo people respect the sanctity of human life. The killings going on in the region may be as a result of the intake of some illicit drugs such as the one called ‘mkpuru mmiri’ in local parlance. When youths take these drugs, nothing matters to them anymore. Their conscience becomes dead and human beings appear like chickens to them.

The tragedy now, especially in many parts of Anambra, is that when you have any problem, you are on your own. Most of the police stations are not functioning optimally. And many police checkpoints have disappeared. If you visit some police stations to help you arrest someone, you will be asked to bring the person to the station yourself. Hardened criminals operate freely without any serious challenge now. Local vigilance groups can only confront or apprehend petty thieves.

Anarchy looms seriously in the land. There is palpable fear in many parts of the region now. Those who have the means are relocating abroad. We are confronted by what is happening in Somalia, Iraq, Syria, Libya and Afghanistan, where different gangs rule without any order.

The problem is compounded by the forced sit-at-home order that people observe every Monday. Although the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) said it had cancelled the weekly sit-at-home directive, the people are not deceived. You come out at your own peril. IPOB appears to have even lost control of the situation. The economy of the South-East is the worse for it.

To avert the looming catastrophe, there is every need for the hierarchy of the security agencies to develop new strategies on how to combat criminality in the South-East in particular and the country in general. In a country where things work, those bandits who robbed the two priests earlier mentioned here would have been arrested by now. The transfer they made went into a bank account. The name of the owner of the account and other details appeared in the transaction. When one of the priests went to his bank to lodge a complaint, he was asked to go to the beneficiary’s bank to complain. When he went to the police headquarters at Ekwulobia to get a police report, he was asked to pay N100,000. Frustrated, he went home to mourn his loss.

In Anambra, many people have resigned to fate. They are waiting for the governor-elect, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, to assume power next month and put a stop to the problem of insecurity. But Soludo is not a magician. The onus is on everyone and every community to buckle up for the challenges ahead. The South-East is not like the North that harbours vast swathes of forests. If there is any forest where criminals hibernate in the East, people will know. All they need to do is to inform the security agents who should mobilize and confront these people in their hideouts.

This is where intelligence sharing comes to play. There is no reason, for instance, why the banks should not collaborate with security agencies to track the account holders of stolen money.

Every dire situation demands drastic and uncommon solutions. When Peter Obi was the governor of Anambra State, he took drastic measures against bandits and kidnappers. Many of them were killed and their properties destroyed. When the heat became unbearable for them, they all left Anambra. The current governor, Willie Obiano, inherited and consolidated on Obi’s security legacy. Now, the ugly past has returned ferociously.

Our government must do something urgently. Else, the South-East may turn out to be a ghost town soon. Let’s pray it doesn’t get to that point. (Daily Sun)

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