By Jude Michael
The Anambra State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has strongly condemned what it described as a shocking and cruel massacre of youths in Nibo Town, Awka South Local Government Area, by yet-to-be identified gunmen.
The killings, which took place during the Onwa Asaa Festival of Nibo Community, instantly threw many families into unexpected mourning.
A statement signed by the State’s Publicity Secretary of APC, Dr. Valentine Iyke-Oliobi, and made available newsmen in Awka, said, ‘The APC is still in shock at the audacity and cruelty of the killers and wishes to commiserate with the families of the victims who are still trying to process the calamity that has befallen them. We also commiserate with the entire Nibo Community over this unfortunate tragedy that happened during the town’s sacred Onwa Asaa traditional festival.
‘The latest killings in Nibo further exposes the dire security situation in Anambra State which keeps deteriorating as the day breaks. It becomes even more worrisome to note that the killings happened within a touching distance of the Anambra State Governor’s Lodge, the State Police Headquarters and the State Criminal Investigation Department of the Nigeria Police Force. If the areas in close proximity to these government buildings are not secure, it means nowhere is really secure in Anambra State.
‘The APC therefore calls on the State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, who is supposed to be the Chief Security Officer of the State, to immediately launch a serious investigation into the dastardly act and begin a manhunt to bring those responsible for cutting short the lives of these persons to justice. We also call on the Governor to provide immediate succour and compensation to the families of the victims, many of whom are suddenly without their breadwinners.
‘Meanwhile, in the light of the seeming wave of insecurity enveloping the entire state and the apparent helplessness of the state governor to stem this ugly tide, the Anambra APC also calls on the State Governor, to, as a matter of urgency, convoke a non-partisan Anambra Extraordinary Security Summit where a coherent and practical strategy would be developed to rescue our state from descending into a war zone where everyone lives in fear.
‘Ndi Anambra deserve a truly secure homeland, not one secure only in political rhetoric. We cannot sit by idly and watch the state become deserted due to mounting insecurity. No week passes by without a major security incident happening in Anambra State. Kidnapping is now widespread and brazen to the point that people are now afraid to move with their vehicles. With the way and manner criminals operate freely in our towns and cities without resistance, it is as if the State Government has relinquished control of the state to non-state actors. This must stop.
‘We call on ndi Anambra to unite and come together to fight this monster called insecurity headlong before it consumes the state. There can never be any meaningful development in an environment where no one is secure and criminals on the prowl with no strategy by the government to curtail their activities. Ndi Anambra, this is our state, we must rescue it together!’
