Chukwuma Soludo, governor of Anambra State, says practically all people arrested for kidnapping and associated crimes within the state over the previous three years are of Igbo descent.
Talking at a city corridor assembly with Anambra residents residing overseas, in New Carrollton, Maryland, USA, the governor challenged the long-held assumption that Fulani herders have been liable for violent crimes within the south-east.
“Previously three years and three months, out of each 100 folks we’ve apprehended for kidnapping or felony actions, 99.99% are Igbo youths,” Soludo mentioned.
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He mentioned that whereas he initially subscribed to the favored perception that herders have been behind the assaults, investigations and arrests have confirmed in any other case.
In keeping with the governor, the deceptive narrative created a false sense of exterior menace that finally inspired some native youths to take up kidnapping as a worthwhile enterprise, following developments like web fraud and drug trafficking.
“These felony teams are run by our personal folks, and the so-called kidnappers’ camps that safety forces have uncovered are manned by Igbos,” Soludo acknowledged.
He additionally disclosed that the felony enterprise has attracted people from neighbouring states who now check with kidnapping in Anambra as “the Anambra job,” explaining that these outsiders usually buy bikes, endure coaching in forest hideouts, and later pose as Fulani when caught.
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“We went into the forest pondering we have been confronting invaders. However nobody requested how the so-called liberators survive there for months. Who feeds them?” the governor requested.
He known as on Anambra indigenes within the diaspora to play a job in addressing the issue by investing of their communities and supporting native growth.
“Let it’s clear: 99.99% of these arrested for these crimes are Igbos, these felony networks are homegrown,” he mentioned.
