From Ifeoma Ejiofor
The Special Adviser to Gov Charles Soludo, on Community Security, Chief Ken Emeakayi has lamented that criminals have infiltrated the state security outfit, “Agunechemba”, and are now reportedly involved in robbery, kidnapping and other crimes across the state.
Emeakayi raised the alarm following the allegations that some operatives of Agunechemba security outfit have been extorting and harassing them with firearms and also mounting roadblocks to collect various sums of money from road users.
The Special Adviser to the governor expressed disappointment over the infiltration of criminal elements into the crime busting group and assured that a comprehensive verification process has been introduced to flush out the bad eggs in the group.
Chief Emeakayi declared that it is unacceptable for any operative of the crime busting outfit to act with impunity and extort the same people they are meant to protect noting that the operatives are not authorized to mount road blocks or checkpoints.
He said that Gov Soludo established Agunechemba and Operation Udo ga Achi to drive away criminals in the state, not for operatives to torment residents.
The Security Chief said that there are disturbing findings that some individuals now masquerade as Agunechemba members by day, only to engage in kidnapping and armed robbery at night.
He noted that many of the unverified operatives have refused to undergo the mandatory profiling process, which has delayed their remuneration and raised suspicions about their legitimacy.
The Special Adviser to Gov Soludo on Community Security warned that anyone claiming to be a security operative without undergoing proper profiling will henceforth be treated as a criminal.
“The Anambra State Homeland Security law is very clear, we must know where every gun is and who is carrying it, full identification of every security agent is a legal requirement,” he asserted.