The All Progressives Grand Alliance has said that the Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, will not succumb to criminal elements working hard to blackmail and derail the governor’s efforts at curtailing insecurity in the state.
The party said no matter what the criminal elements were doing, it stood by the governor’s decision to end the Monday sit-at-home in Anambra State.
Addressing journalists in Awka, on Sunday, the National Coordinator, APGA Media Warriors Forum, Mr Chinedu Obigwe, noted that the state government had given the criminals hiding under the guise of enforcing the already cancelled sit-at-home order by the Independent People of Biafra, enough time to repent.
Obigwe pointed out that the hoodlums terrorising the state were the Simon Ekpa’s faction of IPOB who were labouring very hard to use their acts of terrorism to intimidate the governor and instil fear in the minds of residents of Anambra State.
He said that for the avoidance of doubt, IPOB had cancelled the Monday sit-at-home order even before the emergence of Soludo as the state governor.
The party urged the people of the state to commence full activities on Mondays as directed by the governor without any fear of intimidation by the hoodlums.
He stated, “This coming Monday is a day all activities are expected to commence with full force in Anambra State and we need to adhere to the governor’s directive by going to work, school and markets on that day.
“Soludo is a fearless lion that can neither be cowed nor intimidated by criminals that earn a living from insecurity. All they are doing is a waste of time because the governor is not someone that can be frightened, cowed or intimidated.
“His decision to end the ‘Monday sit-at-home in the state stands and cannot be changed. What we like about Soludo is his approach and strong will to turn impossibility into possibility.
“He did not mince words in saying that he would discuss with the good, the bad and the ugly but that he will do everything humanly possible to actualise his dream of turning the state to a livable and prosperous homeland.”
While calling on the people of Anambra State to support the governor’s transformation agenda, the party said the state’s dying economy must be resuscitated by stopping the criminals enforcing the illegal sit-at-home.
“When Soludo assumed office, he realised that the ‘Monday sit-at-home order was killing the Anambra economy and destroying the future of our children; hence the reason he decided to collaborate with the authentic leadership of IPOB to go after the criminals that were still enforcing the already cancelled order.
“Investigation proved beyond every reasonable doubt that one Finland-based Simon Ekpa is the leader of the criminal gang terrorising the state and the whole Igbo land under the guise of enforcing the ‘Monday sit-at-home order.
“Ekpa has resorted to blackmailing Soludo and the authentic leadership of IPOB, but shame awaits him because the governor is not ready to back out of his decision to restore the economy of the South-East from being destroyed by criminals. The most annoying part is that Ekpa is not based in Nigeria.
“Ekpa dumped Nnamdi Kanu and said openly that his faction of IPOB would no longer take directives from him.
“But the governor had gone as far as offering them amnesty and calling on them to drop their guns and embrace a legitimate way of earning a living. He recently revealed that the criminals terrorising the state, that were arrested by law enforcement agents, were not from Anambra State. I, therefore, believe they must be from Simon Ekpa’s home state.
“Ndi Anambra, we must join hands with Soludo to resist these criminals that want to hold our state economy to ransom. On April 4, last week, the ‘Monday sit-at-home order was put to an end, with prayers in all the churches in the State. Anambra is our only State and we must restore the lost glory of our State by resuscitating our dying economy,” he said.
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