By Izunna Okafor, Awka
Barely one week after a viral video surfaced online showing operatives of the Anambra State Anti-Touting Squad (SASA, popularly known as Ndị Akaodo) brutalizing some men with pestles, the agency has again come under fire as its operatives reportedly launched another destructive attack in Obosi, Idemili North Local Government Area of the state, on Monday, July 1.
Recall that, barely one week ago, a video surfaced on social media, showing SASA operatives mercilessly battering some men by hitting their knees, ankles, and other body parts with pestles while the victims cried in pains and rolled on the ground in anguish. The state government had recently reacted to the video, and assured the public that it would investigate the incident and take the necessary actions.
However, while the dust of the allegations and the controversies generated by the video are yet to settle, another video has surfaced online, showing and condemning another (now destructive) act allegedly perpetrated by the operatives of the same agency, in Obosi, Idemili North Local Government Area of the State.
This latest incident, which has sparked off a chain of reactions and counter-reactions, was captured in another video that surfaced on social media on Wednesday, July 2. The footage, shared by popular comedian and native of the community, Ezemmuo Bluetooth, revealed the aftermath of the attack on Obosi Town Hall and other properties belonging to both individuals and the community’s vigilante group.
In the video, shattered windows of the community hall and vandalized vehicles, including those of the Obosi Vigilante were seen, while voice in the background expressed anger and dismay at the unwarranted destruction allegedly carried out by the SASA operatives.
The incident, it was gathered, has sparked tension in the area, with many residents calling on the Anambra State Government to immediately intervene to prevent possible reprisals or a breakdown of law and order.
Ezemmuo Bluetooth, while decrying the incident in the video, appealed to Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo and the the traditional ruler of Obosi, Igwe Chidubem Iweka, who is also the Chairman of the Anambra State Traditional Rulers Council, to urgently wade into the matter. He emphasized the need for urgent government action to curtail what he described as the excesses of SASA operatives before the situation escalates beyond control.
When contacted on Wednesday by this reporter, the Spokesperson of SASA, Comrade Karen James, dismissed the video as untrue representation of facts.
According to her, SASA operatives did not attack anybody or destroy any property in Obosi, but were rather attacked by the Obosi security operatives.
Telling the agency’s side of the story, Comrade James explained that it all started when a team of SASA operatives went to Obosi to arrest some suspects, after which the President-General of the community insisted that they must not leave the community with the suspects. She said that in addition to the insistence, the PG also mobilized the community’s vigilante operatives to block the SASA operatives from leaving the community with the suspects, hence, culminating in a clash at the scene, which she said, was near the Community’s Town Hall.
The SASA Spokesperson also alleged that one of the agency’s operatives was badly macheted during the attack and is currently receiving treatment in the hospital; even as she further emphasized that the destructions shown in the trending video was not caused by SASA.
Efforts by this reporter to get the reactions of the President General of Obosi Development Union (ODU) and the Traditional Ruler of Obosi proved abortive as they could not respond to their calls as at the time of this publication.
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