Chukwuma Soludo: Taking the bull by the horns

“Leadership is the power of one harnessing the power of many.” 

—John C. Maxwell

By Enyeribe Ejiogu

These days, the natives and residents of Anambra State, as well as those others who are described in the local parlance as “abroad members,” whether residing in other parts of the Nigeria or outside the country in Ghana, South Africa, Dubai, the United States, Europe and Malaysia, among other places, are singing a new song. All of them  agree that Anambra State governor, Prof Charles Chukwuma Soludo, Nwamgbafor, has finally turned his attention to the troubling issue of insecurity in the state, which prides itself as the Light of the Nation.

Yes, now that Ekwulobia flyover is sitting majestically in the town, the first road-bridge of its kind in the state apart from Awka and Onitsha, the lion has roared against insecurity after seemingly ignoring the atrocious situation that was threatening to cripple the state.

Among all other issues, insecurity was seen by the people as the most important thing that needed to be dealt with decisively beyond infrastructural facilities like roads, schools, hospitals, among others.

For a long time, Anambra residents were daily confronted with the real possibility of being kidnapped either at home, in public places or even between towns by Sahelian terrorists and other indigenous criminal elements with hideouts in forests in the state or attacked by these ‘unknown gunmen’.

Expectedly, commerce and trade were affected as the menace increased by the day. And this gradually caused the people to begin to lose trust in the government.

The obvious consequence of the pervading insecurity was that major business owners scaled down operations, cut back on physical presence in the state and began to manage their operations through technology-driven remote means.

Thus a sense of desperation and urgency began to build up in the populace, who desired to see a change in the safety and security narrative of Anambra State, which is the commercial hub of the Southeast.

Hardly would any day pass without traders from parts of the Southeast, South-south and the North coming to Onitsha to buy fresh stock of goods or to sell agricultural produce. Insecurity was dealing deadly punches on the economic growth of the state and prosperity of the people. Clearly, the need for aggressive and decisive action was definitely on the table.

Working under the radar, the government began the process of restructuring the security architecture of the state.

The new structure was test-run quietly for about three months culminating in the visible safe security status experienced during the Yuletide.

Even a 17-year-old fresh student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, of Igbo extraction raised in Lagos, texted his parents, “the vigilante are hot, they no send anybody oo (the Whatsapp chat seen by Sunday Sun was decorated with fire and other congratulatory emojis). Then, boom, the Ijele masquerade stepped out!

On January 17, 2025, the Anambra State Homeland Security Law 2025 passed by State House of Assembly came into force.

The new all-encompassing legislation provides for the maintenance of internal security and order in the state. It details with the composition, operational modalities, administration, funding, disciplinary and such other issues relevant to the Agunechemba Security outfit, right from the state level to local government level and all the way down to towns, communities, villages and kindreds.

Through the Homeland Security Law, Governor Soludo has fully and completely codified community policing in a way and manner that incorporates the long established practice in which people had managed their internal security long before the coming of the colonialists and centralized government, which unwittingly took away the power of the people to protect themselves and take a large degree of responsibility for their safety and security.

The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in Chapter 2 entitled, Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, states in Section 14, Subsection 2, Paragraph ‘b’ that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government, and in Paragraph ‘c’ it states further, “the participation by the people in their government shall be ensured in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.”

By taking the step to enact the Anambra State Homeland Security Law, Governor Soludo has given expression to the preceding paragraph.

The new law which has 39 sections also repealed the Anambra State Group Vigilante Law, 2014, thereby making Agunechemba the central organ of the state for managing internal security in collaboration with the recognized security agencies of the Federal Government, namely the police, military, DSS and civil defence.

As provided in the Homeland Security Law, Agunechemba will exist and operate in each town or community, in each local government and at the state level, which shall be the central command.

Therefore, units of Agunechemba will function through its officers and operatives in all the towns, communities, local governments, markets or other public places in the state.

The operatives from the central command of Agunechemba may be deployed to any part of the state and shall only be answerable to the authorities of the state government established or constituted pursuant to the provisions of the law.

The law further provides that every security operative will undergo thorough screening by the Anambra State Security Supervisory Committee.

A prospective Agunechemba operative will fill a form and must be identified by the Traditional Ruler of his town and the President General of the Town Union; or the Honourable member representing the constituency in the House; or the Chairman of the Market Association with respect to markets only. When engaged, such operative will be issued with an identity card by the state government or under its direction, which must be carried at all times, and must show the following information: the name and address, service number, thumbprint of the security operative, signature, photograph and a barcode for easy identification. The identity card shall bear the stamp of the registering office placed in such a way that part of the stamp shall be on the photograph and counter-signed by the Divisional Police Officer in the area.

As the Homeland Security Law stated, the functions of Agunechemba shall be to assist the Nigeria Police and any other security agency to: “prevent and detect crimes; make available relevant information on criminals; take necessary measures to ensure that criminals do not operate in any part of the State, preserve law and order; protect lives and properties; arrest criminals and hand them over to police for investigation; and give further assistance to the police where required in the production of witnesses; arrest and handover to the police, any person who commits crime; patrol the streets or villages at any time of the day; maintain security barricades in appropriate places; question and handover to the police any person of questionable character or of suspicious movement; enter and search any compound into which a questionable person runs while being pursued ; and form special forces or squads for the purpose of tackling kidnapping, banditry, consumption of illicit drugs, cultism, robbery and any other violent crimes in the State.”

In keeping with the letter and spirit of the Constitution, which enjoins the government to allow the people participate in governance, the onus for community safety now rests on the citizenry at the grassroots. Like Nigerians commonly say, “if you see something, say something” to Agunechamba. This partnership between the government and the people must work.