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Anambra crisis: Lawmaker threatens war
•CP may be redeployed
okey maduforo adesoji oyinlola
correspondendent, Awka political
correspondent
A lawmaker in Anambra State House of Assembly, Ben
Chuks Nwosu has threatened total war should further attacks be carried out on
the state governor, Dr. Chris Ngige.
Speaking with Saturday Independent, Nwosu said the decision by
loyalists of the governor to remain calm in the face of attacks on the people
of Anambra State should not be misconstrued as cowardice but rather, the
resolve by the governor and his supporters to prevent the state from being turned
into a theatre of war. This is coming as indicators emerged at the weekend that
the commissioner of police in the state, Felix Ogbaudu may be redeployed from
the state.
He however threatened that the group may be forced to
protect itself if further attacks were carried out on the governor and people
of Anambra State. “We believe enough is enough, all that has been
happening in the state is the handiwork of destructive elements who are bent on
making Anambra State ungovernable; we have tolerated them enough and any
further attack would be highly resisted”.
Nwosu further said Anambra State does not belong to
any group of persons, but that the state belonged to all and property have long
been acquired right from when the state was under the defunct Eastern Region to
when it become old Anambra State.
He blamed the Federal Government of taking sides in
the crisis, saying the central government had aligned with one of the warring
factions to cause havoc in the state.
Sources close to the force headquarters, Abuja, and
the police command in Awka, told Saturday Independent that Ogbaudu who had been widely
indicated over his complexity in the November mayham has been restive and
unsettled as a result of the level of destruction in Anambra State.
It was reliably gathered that the commissioner may be
queried by police authorities in Abuja who are reportedly making frantic
efforts to forestall a possible retirement of top officers implicated in the
Anambra crisis.
As at press time, it was not possible to get the
police commissioner as he was said to be attending a security council meeting.
The Chairman, Presidential Committee on the Resolution of the Anambra ciris,
and Governor of Ebony State, Dr. Sam Egwu has described the situation as
disheartening and condemnable, even as he insists that his committee would
achieve results.
Egwu, in an answer to reporters’ questions in
Abuja yesterday, said the combatants had returned to the negotiating table and
expressed optimism that the outcome of his assignment would be positive.
“What is happening in Anambra State is not good
for our nascent democracy, we are not moving forward in that direction, so it
is condemnable and should be abhorred” Egwu stated.
He debunked rumours making the rounds that Governor
Chris Ngige had withdrawn from the parley in the wake of the renewed violence
in Anambra State, saying, “how can he back out when he even called me two
days ago, asking for the next meeting.”
The governor gave the assurance that his committee
was making progress, and expressed the hope that the issues would be finally
resolved.
Egwu recalled that the matter has been protracted but
was hopeful that the final resolution would be workable.
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