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From Emmanuel Uzor, Awka
The Anambra State Labour Party (LP) Caucus in the National Assembly has called on government and the police to bring to book members of the Agunechemba Vigilance Group, who violently assaulted a female National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) member, Jennifer Elohor Edema, in Anambra State.
The lawmakers, including Senators Victor Umeh and Tony Nwoye, Ozodinobi George, Afam Ogene, Idu Emeka, Oby Orogbu, Uche Okonkwo and Anekwe Peter, described the viral video of the brutal attack as a heinous, cruel and criminal act that flagrantly violated the laws of the land.
On August 19, a video surfaced showing members of the Agunechemba Vigilance Group physically assaulting a female corps member and her colleagues at their lodge in Anambra.
The video, filmed on July 23, showed Elohor being beaten and stripped naked by men bearing guns.
The armed men had stormed the lodge and accused the corps members of being involved in internet fraud.
The LP lawmakers said the state government must take immediate action to protect the peace and security of residents and visitors by holding the rogue agents accountable and responsible.
Denouncing the government’s purported sack of the operatives as an after-thought, the Caucus wondered why it took the administration several weeks to act when the ugly incident reportedly took place last month.
“We can wager a bet that, but for the public outcry over the matter, the Governor Chukwuma Soludo administration would have, as in several other incidents, simply swept the dastardly act under the carpet.
“Ndi Anambra would remember that only last week, we had drawn attention to plans by the Governor to deploy the discredited security outfit and other rogue elements to unduly influence the outcome of last Saturday’s by-elections.
“Despite strenuous denials by officials of the state government, didn’t everyone see the deputy governor, Onyeka Ibezim, leave his Awka South homestead, with hundreds of Agunechemba operatives, to disrupt the elections in Osumenyi, hometown of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate; much in the same way that the operatives laid siege on the Oraifite home of the APC senatorial candidate.
“We hasten to warn that if Soludo is dreaming of enacting the same act of brigandage in the November 8 statewide gubernatorial election, he better wake up to the reality that such rascals would be firmly resisted.
“The recourse to jungle tactics, one of which led to the brazen assault on the corps member was inhuman and barbaric, and is hereby, condemned in its entirety.
“The Caucus as a responsible and law abiding forum does not support criminality, but is seriously amazed that vigilante services in Anambra State are beginning to take over the functions of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Police, such that they now have the effrontery to burst into female corps members’ lodge to brutalise and strip ladies naked, all under the guise of fighting crime. The impunity and lawlessness of this contraption called Agunechemba is well documented and must, therefore, be checked before it further gets out of hand.
“The violent attack was heinous, cruel and criminal, violating the laws of the land…”
The Anambra State Government must, therefore, take immediate action to protect the peace and security of residents and visitors, by looking inwards to retrain the current band of rogue agents, which currently populate the security outfit.
“We demand immediate and comprehensive investigation and those found culpable must be brought to book to act as a deterrent to others.
“In fact, it is our contention that since no one can be an impartial arbiter in his own case, we urge the Police to take over investigations into the matter, so as to ensure that justice is done to all concerned.
“In saner climes, the offending Agunechemba operatives ought to have been in the custody of the Police, instead of undergoing interrogation by their bosses. Can cockroaches ever expect to get justice in a court presided over by a hen?”
