The intense crackdown of criminals in Anambra State entered a new phase at the weekend when Governor Willie Obiano announced his readiness to deploy drones and a handful of other hi-tech surveillance equipment to smoke out criminals in the state from their hiding places for immediate arrest and prosecution.

The governor was speaking at the final test-running of the drones at the Governor’s Lodge, Amawbia, before their deployment to trouble spots across the state. He also declared the resolve of his administration to sustain the campaign against kidnappers, armed robbers and other types of organised crime in the state until they were either driven out or clamped in jail after prosecution.

According to him, his decision to use hi-tech devices to track down criminals in the state marked the commencement of the second phase of the on-going campaign which relies heavily on sophisticated intelligence gathering and clinical insolation of the flashpoints of crime to ensure a comprehensive cleansing of the state of all criminals.

The governor felt greatly buoyed by the overwhelming support he received from the indigenes of the state, resident in Abuja and the surrounding areas who collectively pooled almost N100m to support his crime-bursting campaign. He vowed to sustain the pressure on criminal elements in the state until they have been reduced to a police-able proportion.

Obiano maintained that with the financial donations and goodwill he had received from Ndi Anambra, he would re-invigorate Operation Kpochapu with a new technological edge that would boost its capacity to detect and prevent crime in the state.

The governor said: “We are moving into the next phase of our campaign against criminals in Anambra State. Our efforts shall be more intensely focused on crime detection and prevention going forward. That is the reason why we are deploying hi-tech surveillance equipment to spy on the activities of crime suspects and forestall possibilities of violent crime.

“Modern crime-fighting requires a lot of creativity. Criminals are extremely inventive and we have to be a step ahead of them to outsmart them. We are relying heavily on technology to give us their coordinates and the general direction of their plans.”

Obiano recall the recent rescue of a kidnap victim who was tracked all the way to Orlu in Imo State, describing it as a clear demonstration of the efficacy of technology in crime fighting.

“As soon as we got wind of the kidnap we moved in and activated the devices. We monitored their movement to their hideout in Orlu, Imo State, and waited until all the suspects were fully in before we picked them up,” he said.

Since assumption office last March 17, Governor Obiano has singled out the challenge of insecurity as a major focus of his administration.

He has since evolved a number of highly effective strategies that have put criminals on the run in the state.

One of the most visible aspects of his strategy is the erection of security tents that are fully stuffed with sandbags in all existing and potential dark spots in the state, manned by combat-ready security operatives that are fully armed to the teeth.

In addition to serving as a deterrent, the presence of these highly trained and pointedly unobtrusive security personnel in strategic areas makes it easy for a swift co-ordination of counter-strikes that takes brigands unawares.

The swift and coordinated reaction that led to the arrest of Okechukwu Nnaegbo, a kidnap kingpin, inside a South Africa-bound aircraft at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.

•Photo shows ones of the drones being deployed to fight crime in Anambra by the Obiano administration.