By Izunna Okafor
The prominent Anambra citizen and Awka stakeholder, former DIG Celestine Okoye (popularly known as Ụzụakpụndụ n’Awka) has cleared the air over the trending video that shows him carrying an AK-47 rifle into a public function.
Recall that a video recently surfaced on social media, showing a man in a white Agbada dress and a red cap as he entered a venue of occasion with an AK-47 rifle on his shoulder.
The amateur video shows the chief as he pulled out the gun by its rope from inside his car after exchanging pleasantries with some of his co-red cap chiefs in the presence of some local security men and policemen, one of whom helped him to hang the gun’s rope on his right shoulder and cover it up with his Agbada dress, as he majestically walked into the event arena in the company of his fellow titled men, with a symbolic metal staff in his hand. Two rounds of gunshots, purported to be a salutation, were also fired into the air by an unknown person, as the chiefs stepped into the arena.
The footage has, however, since then, continued to generate diverse opinions and reactions from social media users and other members of the public, as it sparked widespread speculation and concern, with many people questioning the necessity and implications of such an action, while others share their views on both the personality of the Chief and what they believe could be the circumstances surrounding the incident.
However, when this reporter, Izunna Okafor, contacted him, the prominent man, Chief Okoye, said people were just spreading rumors by saying what they didn’t know regarding his appearance with the AK-47 rifle at the public function.
Recounting what happened, Ụzụakpụndụ Awka, a retired Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) in the Nigeria Police Force, explained that the AK-47 rifle belonged to one of the policemen who escorted him to the event that was held somewhere in Awka recently.
According to him, the police officer in question developed a running stomach along the road on their way to the event, which he told him to manage to endure until they got to the venue of the event.
“So, immediately we got to the venue, he left his gun in the vehicle and rushed to one of the houses there to ease off his stomach.
“And there was no way he could have gone to do that in somebody’s house with his gun, which made him keep it inside the vehicle. Also, there was no way I could have left the gun inside the vehicle as we moved into the occasion.
“So, after waiting for some time, I had to bring it out from the vehicle and hold it for him as we moved into the event venue, where he also came and collected it moments later after he returned. I didn’t even know that someone was videoing me. I was surprised to see the video that started trending later on social media about the incident, and some of the things people are saying about it,” Chief Okoye narrated (in Igbo language).
“So, my brother, don’t mind what people are saying; this was just what happened,” he added.
When asked about his views about the general security situation in Awka, the retired police chief acknowledged that there’s a very high rate of insecurity and crimes in the capital city, especially such that borders on killings, kidnapping, cultism, and armed robbery, among others. These, he said, have become the order of the day in Awka and some other parts of the State, and the country at large.
He cited many recent cases of kidnap recorded in Awka alone, and said it had become a danger zone, even in broad daylight; as well as a case of a newly-married couple who were recently kidnapped and billed N30 million as ransom for their release.
He also decried the high level of cultism and cult-related killings in Awka and its environs at the moment.
While confirming that there are speculations that some influential men from Awka are sponsoring and using their contacts and influence to secure the release of some of those Awka cultists when arrested, the retired DIG said he had also been accused of same, maintaining that he is innocent of all the accusations.
He also revealed that many of the cultists in Awka had even threatened to attack and shoot him dead, because of his refusal to intervene in their cases or secure the release of their members who were arrested.
“How would they expect me to intervene in a case I know nothing about, just because I’m from Awka? Why would they even join cult in the first place? And many of these people are even vulcanizers, Keke riders, and touts, while many don’t even have anything doing. Why won’t they even bend down to learn work and be useful to themselves? And all their interest is how to get guns and kill, all in the name of cultism and other useless groups like that!” he bemoaned.
“Even now, many of them have gone to the extent of becoming hired assassins, in the sense that when someone has a disagreement or land issue with another person, he would go and hire some of them to attack the person. That will tell you that some of these people being killed may not even all be cultists,” he added.
Continuing, he said some cultists had also recently threatened to attack the ọzọ-titled men in Awka for not having intervened to reconcile them and broker in the protracted cult wars that have been going on in the city for years.
While wondering how the cultists would expect them (the titled men) to reconcile them without knowing anything about their identities, their groups, and the reason they are fighting against each other; Chief Okoye said that this was part of the reasons they have beefed up their security and become more security cautious, especially in their gatherings.
When asked who is to be blamed for the worsening insecurity and crime rate, the retired DIG said both the government, security agencies, and parents had their respective fair shares of the blame, as they are not doing some of the things they are supposed to do.
Condemning how security issues in Anambra State are unnecessarily being politicized, he recalled how he had sometime booked an appointment to meet with Governor Chukwuma Soludo, to discuss the security situation with him and offer his experience, wealth of knowledge, and professional advice on how best to go about addressing it; which, he said, the Governor later turned down at the eleventh hour and never reverted to him again till date, after having earlier accepted and chosen a preferred date for the discussion.
He also regretted that even many top government functionaries in the state still don’t want to accept or acknowledge the factual truth that there is a high rate of insecurity in the state today, as they still play politics with it; which, he said, is also part of the problems, as someone must first acknowledge that a problem or a threat exists, before thinking of how to go about it.
According to him, some people were even accusing him of salivating and yearning for political appointment by his expression of interest to meet with the Governor over the security situation in the State. All these, he said, made him hold his peace on the issue since then, as his concerns were not regarded.
On the aspect of the police, Chief Okoye regretted that many of the people being arrested during ‘raids’ by police and eventually bailed with hundreds of thousands of naira are not the real criminal elements, but innocent people; while the real hoodlums continue to wax stronger and perpetrate their criminal acts. He recommended practical intelligence policing as the sure way to go, if the real criminal elements must be identified and apprehended.
He further blamed the parents for not helping matters by neglecting some of the things they are supposed to be doing and doing those they are not supposed to be doing. He explained that, even when a cultist is gunned down by a rival cult member, the family members would hurriedly bury the corpse, without accepting to allow the police to know about it, thereby burying the evidence that such a crime occurred, and consequently frustrating the investigative efforts of the police and other sister agencies.
Although, Chief Ụzụakpụndụ acknowledged that there is also a level of insecurity in almost every part of the state, including Nnewi, where he said he recently escaped from armed men who chased after his vehicle on his way back from a burial ceremony; he, however, noted that Nnewi has a more organized local security system and even street cameras, which have helped immensely to better their security situation; while Awka’s security situation has regrettably become more worrisome and deteriorates by the day, even as a capital city.
When asked if Awka’s uniqueness as a blacksmiths’ town and the consequent speculations about illegal blacksmithing of guns could be contributory to the uniqueness and high rate of the crimes in the city; Chief Okoye dismissed the speculation and noted that many Awka people don’t even do blacksmith anymore.
He recalled a case of a popular blacksmith in the city who also recently dumped the occupation, as a result of regular disturbances and raiding of his workshop by police who regularly stormed and arrested him several times over suspicion that he might be blacksmithing guns, even when no single gun had ever been found in his hands, his workshop or anywhere around his household all through the raids.
This, he said, made the man quit his legitimate blacksmithing, as he would always bail himself with huge sums of money each time he was arrested, even to the point that he sometime spent about six months in jail.
“Since that time that he and every other person quit blacksmithing, has the crime in Awka reduced or continued to increase?” Ụzụakpụndụ wondered.
In the face of the worsening insecurity and rising criminal activities, he further expressed his concern for the safety of ordinary citizens who may not have the means or the expertise to protect themselves. The ex-police chief also called for more proactive measures, including community policing initiatives, to ensure that security is brought closer to the common man and the grassroots across the state.
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