Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano, has cleared the air over the deployment of drones by his administration as part of its strategies to combat crime in the South-East state.

The governor in a public notice issued last night in the state capital Awka described as misleading, reports that the recent rescue of the kidnapped Mr. Pius Maduka, elder brother of Coscharis Chairman, Dr. Cosmas Maduka, was due to the effective deployment of the drone technology.

Entitled ‘The Factual Account of the Deployment of Drones in Anambra State’, the public notice was signed by Governor Obiano’s Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr. James Eze. It reads as follows:

“The attention of the Anambra State Government has been drawn to the misleading reports in some segments of the media, claiming that the rescue of Mr. Pius Maduka, the elder brother of Dr. Cosmas Maduka, the Chairman of the Coscharis Group of companies, was due to the effective deployment of the drone technology in Anambra State. This report is inaccurate and misleading.

“To set the records straight and rescue Nigerians from misleading information, we wish to categorically state that the modest success we have achieved so far in securing Anambra State from criminals comes from the superior intelligence gathering by the State Security Service (SSS) and the quick response rate of the members of the Joint Task Force on Security otherwise known as the Operation Kpochapu.

“While it is true that the Anambra State Government has been carrying out broad tests on the use of drones to overcome some challenges in recent times, our efforts have been largely restricted to how to adapt the technology for accurate mapping of the state, general surveillance and generating reliable and accurate data on the ravages of gully erosion on our precious soil.

“However, we are in full awareness of the increasing powers of the media which has grown in recent years with the introduction of the social media. In this particular instance, our modest efforts to adapt the drone technology to solve some development challenges in Anambra State have been regrettably reported out of context.”

•Photo shows the drones being launched at an erosion site in Umunze, Orumba North Local Government of Anambra State.