Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, has said that the vast majority of criminals fueling insecurity in the South-East are of Igbo origin, not Fulani herdsmen as popularly believed.
Speaking during a town hall meeting with Anambra indigenes in Maryland, United States, Soludo claimed that 99.9 percent of those arrested for crimes such as kidnapping and terrorism in the region are Igbos.
“In my three years and three months in office, 99.99% of the kidnappers and other criminals we’ve arrested are Igbo,” the governor stated. “Let’s stop deceiving ourselves. It’s Igbos kidnapping and killing fellow Igbos—not Fulani.”
He dismissed the notion that armed groups hiding in the forests are freedom fighters or defenders of the region, describing them instead as criminals exploiting insecurity for profit.
“These so-called liberators stay in the bush for months, claiming to protect our people from Fulani herdsmen. But has anyone ever asked how they survive? Who feeds them? Who pays them?” Soludo questioned.
He urged the Igbo community at home and abroad to confront the truth about the security crisis in the region and take collective responsibility for restoring peace.
However, the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), a human rights organisation, disagreed with the governor’s claims. The group maintained that Fulani herdsmen remain active in the forests of the South-East and continue to pose a threat to security.
Intersociety called for a comprehensive security strategy that addresses all sources of violence and avoids generalisations.
