The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has observed that Nnewi-South, Aguata, Ihiala and some other border local government areas have high rate of crimes and other nefarious activities such as kidnapping and other forms of criminalities.
The State Commandant in Anambra, Commandant Chikere Isidore Chukwudi who disclosed this to our correspondent in his office at the command headquarters Awka, stated that crime rates in the aforementioned local government areas were very high at the moment, when compared to other local government areas in the state.
Although he explained that the rate of crimes in Anambra state were not too high when compared to what obtains in other states, he was emphatic that investigations revealed that crimes were being committed by migrant non-indigenes from neighbouring states.
He said the corps was currently carrying out sensitisation cum public enlightenment activities to educate locals on the need to provide useful information to NSCDC that would lead to the clamping down of hoodlums within the state, stressing that security is every person’s business.
The NSCDC state commandant said officials of the corps were present in all the 21 local government areas of the state and that they have been instructed to fish out locations where people gather or planning to commit crimes in order to nip such in the bud. That by and large, Anambra state is relatively not too high in crime commission even as he pointed out that boundary local government areas were more crime infested.
He said he has equally observed that the rate of private individuals carrying firearms in the state is very alarming. That the NSCDC is the agency that has the power to regulate activities of private guard companies.
According to him, due to insecurity and the emergence of local vigilantes, a lot of people have used the opportunity to carry arms illegally.
Isidore said they were out to clamp down on those who indulge in illegal possession of firearms as government didn’t authorize any vigilante, private guard company or any group to carry arms. That currently some cases of illegal firearms possession were being investigated in the state.
The NSCDC boss in the state said patrol teams would be deployed these Ember Months season to check insecurity especially areas where they get distress calls or information requiring urgent rescue missions.