The Anambra State Governor, Prof Charles Soludo has again offered amnesty to criminals terrorising residents of the state, which has witnessed increased attacks by gunmen in recent years.
Penpushing reports that Soludo made this known at a press briefing at the Governor’s Lodge in Amawbia, which was published on Facebook on Tuesday evening, explaining that his administration had identified armed robbery, kidnapping, cultism and touting as the major causes of insecurity in the state.
“When we came in as governor, about seven local government areas were in the grip of hoodlums, but we took on them head-on and liberated all those communities. Today, we hear that a handful of some of those criminals earlier dislodged have now come together and have been terrorising the state,” he said.
“We are calling on criminals who would want to partake in our amnesty programme to come forward and surrender themselves and their arms. We are giving them from now to the end of February 2025 to come and surrender, and we will be ready to help them start life afresh,” the governor declared.
Penpushing further reports that Soludo, speaking on the heels of increased attacks in Anambra state, announced that his administration plans to launch a joint security operation to tackle insecurity in in State.
The Governor disclosed that the operation is codenamed “Operation Udo Ga Achi,” an Igbo expression meaning “let peace reign’, adding that the government has reports of people being kidnapped and vehicles snatched
“We have had reports of people being kidnapped and vehicles snatched, but in the coming days, we will launch Operation Udo Ga Achi. We have procured 168 patrol vehicles here, which will be distributed to various security agencies. Apart from the support we will be given the security agencies, we are also deploying ICT in the fight against insecurity’, he said.
Penpushing also reports that he vowed that his administration would begin revoking the lands of any community harbouring criminals, and warned that members of such communities who give food or contribute money to take to the criminals in the bush would be treated as collaborators.
The Governor who is third time he would be declaring amnesty for criminals in state since he became Governor of the state on March 17, 2022, however, emphasized that any house that is found to have harboured kidnappers will henceforth become the property of the government.
Penpushing reports that it is recalled that Soludo first made the offer in July 2022 after visiting the detained leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, at the facility of the State Security Service (SSS) in Abuja, and made the second offer in December of the same year.
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