Publish names of criminals in S’East, Soludo told

Reacting to the Governor’s statement made during a speech in Maryland, United States, former Minister of Education and Health, Professor Ihechukwu Madubuike, and a diaspora-based pro-Igbo group, Concerned Citizens of Igbo Nation in Diaspora (CCIND), challenged Soludo to back his claims with evidence.

Professor Madubuike, speaking in an exclusive interview with Vanguard, described Soludo’s statement as “shocking and dangerous,” coming from a man of his intellectual stature. He demanded that the Governor publish the names and identities of the alleged perpetrators if they truly exist.

“I need to refer to what Soludo said recently about 99.9% of kidnappers in Anambra being Igbo. We would like to know how he arrived at that figure and what he has done to stop it since becoming governor,” he said.

He further questioned the state government’s efforts at rehabilitating or reintegrating criminal suspects.

“What jobs has he created for the people he claims to have caught? Where are they now? What are their names? If they are all Igbo as he claims, which communities are they from? And since he knows them, should we now expect that kidnapping will end in Anambra?”

Similarly, the CCIND, in a statement by its spokesperson Emeka Livingstone, described the Governor’s claim as “an unguarded utterance lacking evidence” and accused him of indicting Igbo youths while giving a pass to criminal herders who have long been accused of violent crimes in the region.

“The Governor’s reckless comment not only exonerates known perpetrators like armed herdsmen but also opens the door for further invasions of farms and forests in Igbo land. It also feeds anti-Igbo narratives and propaganda,” the group stated.
“Soludo’s unverifiable allegation did not consider the numerous attacks carried out by suspected herdsmen in several communities during and after the last administration,” the group noted.

They also cited a recent incident in Ogbaru Local Government Area, where armed Fulani herders allegedly attacked a young farmer, as evidence that insecurity in the region cannot be attributed solely to Igbo youths.

“Yet the Governor has avoided addressing such incidents or acknowledging the role of non-Igbo actors in the region’s insecurity,” the statement said.

The group warned that such public remarks by elected leaders could put innocent Igbo youths at risk of profiling, human rights abuses, and extrajudicial killings.