John Chuma Nwosu, governorship candidate of the African Development Congress (ADC) in the forthcoming election in Anambra, 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 Annual Public Lecture instituted by Igwe Alfred 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 the Governor assumed office, adding that Anambra people could not bear to have him in control of the state for another four years.

His words: “It is the clear evidence of bad governance. For the past three and a 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 brutalized. What happened in Onitsha yesterday was a clear evidence of chaos in our environment, which is orchestrated 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.

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 operandi 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 occasioned by poor governance and absence of prioritizing 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 brutalized by members of the Agunechemba under the command of Operation Udogachi. Before then, there have been surfeits 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 government that will be in partnership with Anambra people, I had emphasized 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!”

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