Soludo ‘moves against IPOB’, declares curfew in 7 LGAs

Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State has declared curfew in seven Local Government Areas of the State to checkmate the excesses of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

They are Aguata, Ihiala, Ekwusigo, Nnewi North, Nnewi South, Orumba North and Orumba South.

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The governor made the declaration in a statewide broadcast on Wednesday.

He said the curfew, which takes effect from Friday , will be in force until normalcy returns to the affected areas.

“With effect from tomorrow, Friday, 26th May, 2022, a 6pm to 6am curfew is hereby placed on motorcycles (okada), tricycles (keke), and shuttle buses in Aguata, Ihiala, Ekwusigo, Nnewi North, Nnewi South, Ogbaru, Orumba North and Orumba South Local Governments until further notice.”

“Also, motorcycles, keke and shuttle buses are banned from operating in these local governments on Mondays until the Sit-at-Home completely stops,” he said.

He directed the youths in every community in the zone to assist the security agencies in the implementation of the policy, mandating them to seize any such motorcycle or tricycle on the spot.

“The Okada, Keke, and shuttle bus union leaders must take responsibility to report their members who are involved in criminal activities. We shall review this after two weeks, and if members of these unions continue to be involved in criminal activities, the government will have no choice but to either disband the Unions and/or ban them out rightly in the state.

“No part of Anambra State (house, bush or forest) shall be used as camps for these criminals. Anyone with a gun in a camp is considered a criminal in Anambra State, and the government and people will work with security agencies to flush them out. The State Government shall pursuant to its powers under the Land Use Act revoke and acquire any land found to be harboring these criminals, for public purpose. Henceforth, every community is required to provide information on any part of their land occupied by these criminals as camps. If the community fails to do so, the government will take over such land.

“All communities are hereby charged to take over their communities completely and through the leadership of their Town Unions and Traditional Rulers give weekly security reports (submitted every Friday) to the State Government on the state of security in their communities. The cooperation of the youths in that regard is now imperative. I charge the vigilantes of each community to rise to the occasion and contend with these criminals in your locality whether they are in your bush or the houses in your community. The State Government expects the report of any progress made in this regard and shall support and reward you accordingly.

“Any buildings found to be harboring these kidnappers and murderers who have laid siege on our State will, as provided by Criminal Code (Amendment No.3) Law 2013, be forfeited to the State Government. To that extent, all landlords are hereby directed to proceed on “Operation Know Your Tenant” by keeping appropriate records of their tenants and report anyone suspected of being involved in criminal activities. Each community leadership must keep full register of all tenants in their communities, their occupation, etc and keep an eye on their activities. The State Government shall as an emergency measure, disband the leadership of any community which fails to report criminal activities in their communities or immediately respond to the requests contained in this address.

“All market leaders and stakeholders are hereby charged to join the communities in taking back their territory and monitor the activities in their markets. They are all required to return weekly security reports to the State Government.

“Everybody who either in person or through telephone calls demands cash support or ransom from anyone in furtherance of any criminal activities or groups should immediately be reported to the government via the telephone lines provided.”