Jacinta Chisom OguadinmaGovernorship candidate in the Anambra November 2021 election, Valentine Ozigbo, has joined his voice with Anambra lawyers in calling on the state governor to beef up security in the state.
The call comes amidst the spate of insecurity across the state which manifests in the forms of kidnapping for ransom, and armed robbery among others.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelIn a post on his X Handle (formerly known as Twitter), Ozigbo expressed concern that the rate of insecurity in the state is becoming alarming.
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Lawyers under the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) in the state organized a peaceful protest crying out that they have become targets of kidnappers and assassins. Vice Chairman of NBA Ihiala Branch and Principal State Counsel, Peter Awa was gruesomely killed by unknown gunmen. A lawyer based in the state, Chukwubuikem Azoro was on Saturday 11 May 2024, abducted by unknown gunmen and is still in the hands of his captors.
The incidents had forced the lawyers to embark on a week-long boycott of all courts in the state over the killing and kidnap of their members.
The lawyers while speaking to the deputy governor during the protest, narrated how one Barrister Chima Collins was almost abducted at Nsugbe and when he resisted, his head was broken, and as a result of such, people no longer move freely to do their business in the state.
Also, on the same week, information about the kidnap of Rev Father Gbuzuo was received although he was later released on Friday last week.
The lawyers called on the government to see every life as sacred saying “Every life is sacred, no life is more important than the other, those are future leaders of a state but we are losing them in their 100s. We can no longer keep quiet while all these violent actions are going on in the state.”
He added that previously, it was believed that crimes only happen at night “Initially we thought that crime was limited to a particular locality but now it has gone across the entire Anambra state including Awka the capital city of Anambra state.
“When you go to the police commission, he will tell you that you shouldn’t walk in the night, he will advise you to be back to your house before 6pm, is this the kind of state we want?”
“As long as the Rev Father was kidnapped in the morning, that should be more reason why you should know that crime is no longer limited to time in the state. The feeling we have is that there is a total collapse of security in the state.”
Ozigbo in his post, charged the members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Anambra State branch to be at alert.
He said: “align with the members of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Anambra State branch in making this call. As Edmund Burke put it “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
He further called on Anambra citizens to rise to the occasion and speak out “so we can sit down to find solution. The solution to this isn’t rocket science. We have dealt with this better in the past and there are Governors dealing with this better at present. Let us humble ourselves to both learn and collaborate. I won’t discuss full solutions here. But I can only assure that a better and more secure Anambra is clearly possible.
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As Edmund Burke put it “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
The video is an echo of the messages he has been sending to the government of Anambra State, who, instead of listening to constructive criticism and looking for real solutions, just resort to mudslinging by their errand team.
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