The All Progressives Grand Alliance has said that gunmen terrorising Anambra State and the entire South-East region should be treated as terrorists, without showing mercy to them.
The party also described the people hailing the actions of the gunmen as being “naive and senseless”, while urging the government and other relevant agencies to declare an emergency on them.
Addressing journalists in Awka on Wednesday, the National Coordinator, APGA Media Warriors Forum, Mr. Chinedu Obigwe, said it would be too detrimental if the gunmen were allowed to succeed in destroying the security architecture of the state.
Obigwe urged the people to cooperate with the administration of Prof. Chukwuma Soludo’s initiative of “If you see something, say something security initiative” so as to curb insecurity.
He said, “There is nothing like unknown gunmen because the perpetrators of the evil acts are human beings that live among us.
“If we cooperate with the government through the provision of intelligence report to our security agents on how to get these gunmen that masquerade as unknown gunmen, the mayhem they are unleashing in our beloved state will be a thing of the past.
“The undeniable truth is that the so-called unknown gunmen are terrorists and should be treated as terrorists without mercy. Some of our people hailing them are doing that out of naivety because if they succeed in destroying our security architecture, we are finished.”
He urged the people not to leave security in the hands of the government alone, especially as the gunmen had listed some local government areas for attacks.
“The gunmen that listed nine councils for attacks in Anambra should know that they have signed their death warrants because an adage says, ‘monkey will go market one day and the monkey will not come back.’ We are of the firm opinion that security is everybody’s business and not something that will be left for the government to be handled alone.
“Most importantly, we have to be security conscious and watch what happens around us very carefully. Perpetrators of crime use evil minded people around us to carry out their evil activities. When it comes to security of lives and properties, nobody can actually be trusted.
“Even some evil-minded security officials are complicit in the evil activities of these criminals and that is the reason we must be careful always.
“Our governor is doing his best to secure our lives and properties but we must support all he is doing as patriotic citizens.
“Let’s join hands with the government to nip the evil activities of the unknown gunmen terrorists in the bud in our state,” he stated.