TheCable

The Anambra government has vowed to prosecute the operatives of the Special Anambra Anti-Touting Squad (SASA) that brutalised one Wilfred Ezike, an alleged notorious thug, in the state.

On Tuesday, a video of Ezike, otherwise known as Mgbilimgba, being brutalised by the operatives of the anti-touting squad went viral.

The operatives, whose faces were not caught on camera, tortured the alleged thug with a pestle until his ankles bled and was subsequently admitted into a hospital. 

Reacting to the incident, on Wednesday, Chikodi Anarah, the commissioner for homeland affairs, condemned the inhumane act of the operatives.

The commissioner identified Ejike as “a major kingpin of touts in whose hands people have gone through hell”, but added that actions of the anti-tout officers must be confined to the law.

“I have been alerted to a viral video on the arrest and manhandling of one Wilfred Ezike, also known as Mgbiligba, by SASA operatives. I feel bad that an incident of that nature took place. I have felt bad all day since somebody posted the video to me,” his statement reads.

“Indeed, some people are unrepentantly committed to various criminalities based on which innocent citizens remain in miserable conditions running their legitimate day-to-day life, but we must handle human beings according to prescriptions of the law, no matter their offence.

“Our governement is law-abiding and that is why we must fish out the SASA operatives involved in the incident under reference and punish them accordingly.

“It is also true that we are resolute to stamp out ‘Agberos’, but that must happen within the confines of the laws of the land. Interestingly, people have been commenting and reacting. This shows life in an organised democracy.

“Some of them allege various levels of atrocities committed by Wilfred Ezike for which he ought to have been more severely manhandled and brought to book, while counter-narratives insist that he should not be manhandled at all. For me, and the government of Anambra state, nothing justifies brutality, which is why we will punish the erring operatives.

“General comments have also expressed opinions that Wilfred had been prominent in fighting previous administrations to a standstill in their effort to curb the state of touts and their activities.”

Last year, Charles Soludo, governor of Anambra, launched the state anti-touting squad to tackle the activities of touts in Anambra.