Governor Charles Soludo has declared a 6am to 6pm curfew in seven Local Government Areas of Anambra State.
The Governor made this known in a statewide broadcast on Wednesday, May 25, stating that the affected local governments are Aguata, Ihiala, Ekwusigo, Nnewi North, Nnewi South, Orumba North and Orumba South.
The curfew which takes effect from Friday, May 27, will be in force until normalcy returns to the affected areas.
Soludo said:
“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.”
“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.
“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.”
