In the face of the seeming collapse of Ebubeagu, the joint security network of five southeastern states, the launching of a special security operation codenamed ‘Udo Ga-Achi’ by Governor Charles Soludo reportedly to confront the escalating insecurity in Anambra State is a welcome development.

The governor is the head of a government constitutionally charged to ensure the safety of life and property in the domain. He will need to be focused, demonstrate sincerity of purpose and avoid undue politicisation, to ensure that the new outfit does not end up like Ebubeagu, or deepen insecurity in the state.

Soludo’s move, which followed his signing into law of the Anambra Homeland Security Bill passed by the House of Assembly, appears to be a practical response to the rising insecurity situation in the state, which he says requires extreme measures to tackle. However, the governor will need to prove to the world, particularly his critics, that the measure is genuine security reform, not political opportunism, as some quarters perceive it.

Security challenges have been ravaging the five Southeast states for years, among which is Anambra. The situation is crippling the economies and leading to loss of innocent lives. There has been an escalation in violent crimes perpetrated by terrorists and violent herdsmen from the northern part of the country, kidnappers who demand ransom as well as separatists fighting for Biafra republic, who intermittently issue sit-at-home orders over the incarceration of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, and attack whoever flout their order.

In the attacks, many innocent lives, including government security personnel have been killed. The atmosphere became so terrifying that the governors of Enugu, Abia, Anambra, Imo and Ebonyi states in the zone held an emergency meeting in the Imo State Government House on April 11, 2021, where a regional security outfit called Ebubeagu was formed to complement government efforts at tackling insecurity in the region.

Specifically in Anambra State under Governor Soludo, insecurity has claimed precious lives. On October 8, 2024, three members of the crew of Supersport were killed when their vehicle ran into an ambush by gunmen at Iseke, a border town with Imo State. The victims were going to Uyo in Akwa Ibom State to cover the AFCON qualifying match between the Super Eagles of Nigeria and their Libya counterparts.

Four days before the Iseke attack, police foiled an attempt to kidnap a Syrian who was working for a construction company at Ogbunka in Orumba Local Government Area. The state police command said the two police aides attached to the expatriate were shot. Two days before that, gunmen reportedly killed two policemen at Uruagu Nnewi community in Nnewi North Local Government Area. The attackers hurled an improvised explosive device at the policemen which exploded and killed them instantly.

Between August and September, the Divisional Police Station at Oba and the Nnobi Police Station, both in Idemili South Local Government Area, and the Nnewi Police Station were attacked by gunmen who killed some police officers. About a year before the incidents, some members of the United Nations entourage, including police officers were killed by gunmen at Ogbaru while on a visit to an erosion site in the area. Besides these instances, there were broad daylight lynching, maiming and killing of people even in Awka the state capital.

At the ‘Udo Ga-Achi’ unveiling which will be carried out through a new vigilante structure known as Agunechamba, Soludo described it as a special intervention force to complement regular policing. It was primarily designed to upscale intelligence gathering, reward whistle-blowers, enhance rapid response and rout criminals out of their hideouts in Anambra. He pledged to pay N5 million to any whistle-blower whose information may lead to the identification of a gunman or kidnap kingpin in any of the communities. According to him, about 2000 more vigilante operatives would be recruited and trained to join the existing personnel drawn from the army, police navy, civil defence corps, Directorate of State Security (DSS), and Agunechemba.

‘We have installed best in class tracking system, emplacing a command-and-control system which enhances the use of voice, video and data in security management, deploying AI-powered surveillance cameras which we intend to cover most communities in Anambra. Our state call centre is enabled with the toll-free line 5111 and 08002200008…’ Soludo explained.

While some stakeholders see Soludo’s action as purely fulfilling his oath of office to preserve the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy as contained in Section II of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) under which it is clearly stated in Section 14 (2) ((b) that the ‘security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government’, there are those who exercise fear that the governor has ulterior or hidden motive for the step he has taken.

The critics based their fear on the claim that the security situation in Anambra had become terrifying and persisted for years with Soludo not prioritising it, even with the hundreds of millions of naira he collects as security vote monthly. To them, rather than confront the challenge, the governor was busy looking for scapegoats to blame, especially when he claimed that efforts to end insecurity were hindered by criminals’ infiltration of the vigilante operatives.

Considering the excuse ridiculous, critics asked: Is safeguarding life and property, not the government’s responsibility? Is it the duty of vigilante operatives? When the governor lost confidence in vigilantes, what did he do with the government security personnel, including military and police who are recognised by law and are constantly at his disposal? In other quarters, Soludo’s action is seen as purely political, a deft move towards re-election as governor. The questions they ask are: why is he just unveiling this in the final months of his tenure? Why did it take him more than three years in his four-year term to act decisively?

Nevertheless, with the special security operation, Governor Soludo, as the chief security officer of Anambra State, has taken a bold step to ensure the safety of life and property in his domain. He could have acted late as claimed by critics, it is better than not acting at all. The extent to which he can and will make the Agunechemba free from political influence will determine whether the initiative was borne out of genuine concern for the security of life and property or political motive. The special security operation should not be used to intimidate or suppress opposition political parties. Agunechemba is being funded with taxpayers’ money.

Therefore, it should not be an appendage of any group or political party, including the ruling party in Anambra. The mandate should be tackling insecurity not serving the personal interest of anyone.

Unfortunately, the earlier move by the southeast governors to collectively fight the common insecurity challenge in the region through the instrumentality of Ebubeagu is not seen to be achieving results. While individual state efforts should not be discouraged, collective efforts have greater potential to succeed, given that criminals can easily traverse states in the region. And for Agunechemba to deliver on its mandate it should collaborate with its regional counterparts.

The creation of Agunechemba is yet another indication that true federalism with state police is the way out of the seemingly intractable insecurity in the country. In addition, some of the criminal activities in the South East have been linked to the continued incarceration of the leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu. The Federal Government will do well to consider a political solution to the Kanu matter if it will accelerate the peace process in Igboland. (The Guardian Editorial)