Obi of Onitsha, Achebe laments rising insecurity, crime in South East

The Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, has lamented the rise of insecurity and crime in the South East and Onitsha in particular.

Achebe, in his ofala message during the celebration which held on Friday, said: “The country is at a dangerous crossroads politically, economically, socially, and security-wise.

“In the Southeast, we have the aftermath of the last general elections; the complex and protracted security situation involving kidnappers, political thugs, state and non-state actors, etc., all masquerading as unknown gunmen; as well as the crippling economic strangulation of the Southeast arising from the insecurity and the ill-advised sit-at-home protest that has cost Ndi Igbo incalculable losses in finances, properties and lives.

“Our community is not immune to the above challenges. Our people are also hurting badly. Therefore, despite the fact that the Ofala remains a celebration, we have made a conscious decision to prune down the scope of the festival for this year to more restrained levels in line with the prevailing mood in the country.

“We hope that the situation will improve significantly to enable us to resume the festival at normal levels in the future.”

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On how insecurity is affecting Onitsha, Achebe said: “Like other large cities in the country, Onitsha had its own share of security challenges during the past year.

“Being the centrepiece of a massive urban spread of contiguous communities, it is virtually impossible to defend our community from the overall security situation in the urban conundrum.

“Also, being the main centre for economic activity, Onitsha has become the destination for the mostly jobless and transient youths from rural communities in search of an elusive better life.

“Consequently, our main challenges remain youth unemployment, gangsterism, touting, homelessness, petty and armed robbery, cultism, drug addiction, child prostitution, rape, etc.”

He lamented that the indigenous community is not spared from these pressures of urbanisation and that his council is constantly struggling to maintain security in the city.

He added that the statutory security agencies are mostly reactive towards crime, leaving the Anambra State Vigilante Group (AVG) with 25 operatives, under the command of the state government and the Onicha Ado Community Vigilante Unit (OCVU), with 59 operatives under his command to cater for the security of the city.

The 2023 Ofala witnessed colourful displays by several age grades, including titled men in the kingdom.