- He said the false narrative that the Fulanis are the ones behind kidnapping in the state is what led Igbo youths in the state to kidnapping.
Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, has disclosed that Nigerians of Igbo extraction are the ones instigating insecurity and committing all manner of crime in the state.
The governor made the disclosure during a town hall meeting with Anambra indigenes in the Diaspora held in the United States.
He stated that claims that Fulani herdsmen are behind kidnapping in the state are false, noting that 99 per cent of the kidnappers arrested in the state in the last three years are of Igbo origin.
He said the false narrative that the Fulanis are the ones behind kidnapping in the state is what led Igbo youths in the state into kidnapping for ransom as it “became the next lucrative job after ‘Yahoo’ and drug trafficking”.
“I have been in office for three years and three months. If we have arrested 100 criminals and kidnappers, 99.99% of them are Igbo youths,” the governor said.
“Igbo are the ones kidnapping Igbo, they are the ones killing Igbo. All these camps are for Igbo youths. And by the way, because I came with the same false narrative. The false narrative they gave us is Oh! The Fulanis, they’re invading our people, and they are now everywhere, they’re waiting for a whistle to be blown and they will take over.”
The governor implored indigenes of the state in the diaspora to invest in their homeland and contribute their skills and resources to its development.
He said: “Even those from other states now call it the ‘Anambra job’. They go to their villages, buy motorcycles, and come here to join the business. They get taken into the bush, trained in the act. But when they are eventually arrested, they claim it’s the Fulanis.
“I came with that same false narrative, that the Fulanis are invading our people, that they are just waiting for a whistle to be blown before they take over. Therefore, we thought we were the liberators. So we, Igbos, went into the bush to chase them out.
“But nobody asked how those claiming to be liberators survive in the forest for one, two, or even six months. How do they feed? I want you to quote me right — 99.99% of all the criminals we have arrested are Igbos. All these camps are Igbos.”