On Soludo’s aggressive cleansing of Anambra

Residents of Anambra State can now sleep with their two eyes closed. Many statistics now point to Anambra as one of the safest states in the South East and in the country. Unlike in the past where election seasons saw a spike in criminal activities in the state, there have been zero incidents of crimes in many communities in the last 6 months. The state’s commissioner of police affirmed to this a few days ago.  Thanks to the well-structured and thought-out security architecture in Anambra State, which is well organized at the community and local government levels and equipped with technology-enabled surveillance systems.

Anambra’s security architecture, which was strengthened by the Governor Chukwuma Soludo-led administration, has not only eliminated crime to the barest minimum in the state, they are also unravelling past crimes – i.e. crimes committed many years ago. Last week, a set of suspected kidnapers apprehended by Agunechemba – a part of a new vigilante/security architecture established by the Anambra State Government in 2025 under a law called the Anambra Homeland Security Law 2025 – confessed to have participated in the 2021 gruesome murder of Dr Chike Akunyili, husband of the former director general of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and former minister of information, Professor Dora Nkem Akunyili. This is just one of the many high-profile kidnapping cases that have been unraveled by Anambra’s robust security architecture.  (Agunechemba complements regular security forces (police, army, DSS, civil defense etc.) and helps form part of the special security intervention force, which is code named Operation Udo Ga-Achi).

Here is a part of the statement issued by Anambra State’s Commissioner of Police, Ikioye Orutugu, to newsmen last month: ‘’ In a decisive move to combat kidnapping, violent crimes, and other criminal activities, the Police Command, in collaboration with other security agencies, launched Operation Zero Kidnapping. This joint operation has significantly disrupted the activities of criminal gangs and brought the rate of kidnapping in the state to zero’’.

A few days ago, Agunechemba arrested a notorious native doctor allegedly responsible for preparing charms and fortifications for kidnappers and armed robbers operating within the state. This is part of the efforts by Anambra’s security architecture to get to the root of crimes. The onslaught on criminal native doctors who had been aiding crimes in Anambra has also contributed in the massive reduction of crimes in the state.  We have argued in this column that this is one of the ways the Governor Soludo-led administration is getting at the root causes of criminality in the state: https://www.thecable.ng/on-soludos-fight-against-the-root-causes-of-criminality-in-nigeria/

Before 2000, kidnapping – which began spreading after the early 2000s wave of militancy and crime in the Niger Delta – was rare in Anambra State and was mostly linked to traditional disputes or politically motivated abductions, not for ransom. The period between 2006 and 2014 saw a surge of criminal groups, many with roots in neighboring states like Ebonyi, Abia and Imo, who found Anambra’s wealthy class a lucrative target. During this period, many families stopped holding elaborate traditional marriages (“igba nkwu”) in their hometowns because kidnappers targeted wealthy returnees who came home for such ceremonies. But, today, things have changed for good in Anambra and visitors now flock to the state.

In 2007, Ego Cordelia (Anambra Commissioner for Women Affairs) and her son were abducted in Nsugbe; in 2007, Joseph Dimobi (member, Anambra State House of Assembly) was abducted; in 2009, Governor Soludo’s father, Pa Simon Soludo, was abducted in Isuofia; in 2013, Chudi Nwike, a former Deputy Governor of Anambra State, was abducted and was killed by his abductors after ransom was paid. The peak of kidnapping between 2006 -2014 led former Governor Willie Obiano to launch an aggressive anti-kidnapping and anti-crime operation, which led to the apprehension of various kidnapping kingpins and even the demolition of buildings used by kidnappers.

Former Governor Willie Obiano’s efforts led to a decline in kidnapping in Anambra until the post-2021 insecurity associated with IPOB/ESN activities in the South East led to a different pattern. This pattern included politically motivated or insurgent-style abductions rather than ransom-only kidnappings. This was the period that witnessed the death of Dr Chike Akunyili. In fact, in the 2021 gubernatorial election campaigns and because of the spike in criminal activities, most politicians could not campaign in many local governments in Anambra State. People were even afraid to wear party uniforms. But all these have changed today. A governorship aspirant who was kidnaped in 2021 has not been found up till today.

Today, there is a total rebirth in Anambra. There are various reports that criminals have fled the state to neighboring states as a result of the aggressive onslaught on them in Anambra State. In May 2025, the Vanguard Newspaper reported that ‘’spurious native doctors, yahoo boys, and kidnappers who fled Anambra State following the clampdown on their illegal activities by Governor Chukwuma Soludo have turned the bordering Asaba, capital of Delta State, and environs in the South-South region into a haven.’’ Of course, these neighboring states have also increased the onslaught on these criminals.

The success achieved in security by Governor Soludo in Anambra has changed the state. Night life is back in the state. The number of visitors to the state has increased and hotel occupancy has also increased significantly. Anambra is on the rise and it can only get better!

Nwankwo is the special adviser to Soludo on special projects.