Fides Media Living the Faith
By Mmaduabuchi Onwumelu
The Anambra State House of Assembly has mandated Anambra Governor, Prof ChukwumaSoludo, to order the police in the state to carry out increased surveillance in the Onitsha Metropolis to checkmate criminality in the commercial city.
At the Plenary Session of the House last Tuesday, the lawmakers passed a resolution urging Governor Chukwuma Soludo to direct the Commissioners of Police and Homeland Affairs to increase surveillance in Onitsha Metropolis with special reference to Onitsha-Owerri Road.
The House passed the resolution following a motion sponsored to that effect by the member representing Ogbaru 1 Constituency, Honourable Noble Igwe, during plenary.
Sponsoring the motion, Honourable Igwe said the rampant rate at which criminals paraded and oppressed people living in the streets and plying the roads within Onitsha metropolis at will, without restraint required security agencies to take urgent steps to arrest the situation.
The legislator expressed worry that Anambra citizens were being dispossessed of their belongings on daily basis, with some having minor or major body injuries or even loss of life.
For his part, the Majority Leader, Honourable Ikenna Ofodeme, informed the House that the situation had adversely affected economic activities in Onitsha as many traders had relocated to other states due to insecurity.
Lending his voice, the Chief whip of the House, Honourable Ejike Okechukwu, lauded the efforts of Governor Soludo and security agencies in the protection of life and property in the state and stressed the need for the state government to install CCTV cameras at flash points to salvage the situation.
The Speaker of the House, Right Honourable Somtochukwu Udeze, urged security agencies to intensify efforts in their fight against crime in Onitsha as the state government was committed to providing enough incentives for them.
He assured that the Eighth Assembly under his leadership would live up to expectations.