As part of his efforts to witness and have a firsthand assessment of the current security situation in parts of Anambra South senatorial zone still under active insurgency, Sir Paul Chukwuma has toured parts of Nnewi South and Ihiala where territories are still occupied by insurgents. During this uncommon and unprecedented personal assessment effort, Chief Chukwuma toured parts of Ukpor in Nnewi South which has been liberated from insurgency, but is still under imminent threat of attack by gunmen who are still camped a few poles down the Ukpor – Azia road.
From Ukpor, Chukwuma also advanced to Azia in Ihiala local government which is still under active insurgency with camps in the nearby forest and roadblocks set up by the insurgents on the express. This brave on-the-spot assessment, had afforded the governorship hopeful on the platform of the APC, the rare chance to see the situation as it is, devoid of any window dressing or third-party analysis.
During the visit, sights of bullet pellets were observed all along the road, from Ukpor. There were also sights of vehicles that were caught in the crossfire during a gun duel between the insurgents and the military. Several homes were observed to have been abandoned, as forests encroached into previously residential areas. Meanwhile, there were sights of IEDs or dynamites which were planted on the express road by the gunmen, but were removed by the military.
Remarkably, vast landmass that would have been subjected to mechanized agriculture has become a theatre of war in parts of Anambra State.
Currently, the governor of Anambra State, Prof. Charles Soludo is yet to visit that troubled part of the state, despite being from Anambra South. So far, no active public servant or office seeker has visited that part of Anambra State, for on-the-ground personal assessment except Paul Chukwuma.
Anambra has become endangered by insecurity, as kidnappers and all sorts of criminals continue to have a field day.
For now, there is little doubt that the insecurity which has become a major defining feature of today’s Anambra State will be properly addressed without fully dispensing with the insurgency in parts of the Anambra South senatorial zone.
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