Chairman of Etche Local Government Area, Dr Obinna Anyanwu has vowed to crackdown on kidnappers and their accomplices who are terrorizing the Igbo Etche axis of the LGA and ensure that the area was no longer used as hideout for them and their victims.

Dr. Anyanwu, who stated this on Tuesday, May 16, 2023 shortly after an expanded security meeting at the palace of the Paramount Ruler of Igboh Kingdom, said it was time to arrest the spate of kidnap cases and other criminal activities in Igboh Kingdom.

A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Robinson Oluor, said Anyanwu asserted that he is committed to the promotion of peace and security in the local government area, noting that any traditional ruler or individual indicted for promoting insecurity will face the full weight of the law.

The Etche LG chief executive read the riot act to criminal elements involved in kidnappings and land grabbing, warning that they will be decisively dealt with as there will be no hiding place for them in the area anymore.

He disclosed that security agencies would be conducting special and strategic operations aimed at neutralising emerging threats to the collective safety of the people, enjoining the people of Igboh Kingdom to always volunteer useful information to the police and other security agencies to enable them handle crime in the area effectively.

According to him, security is the responsibility of all and not the exclusive preserve of those vested with political power, calling on traditional leaders and other stakeholders to join hands with the security agencies in the fight against crime, no matter whose ox is gored, pointing out that meaningful developments could only thrive in a crime-free society.

On his part, the Onyi Ishi Agwuru/Anwirinwu II of Igboh Kingdom, His Majesty, King Dr. Samuel Amaechi, JP, KSC, said traditional rulers in Igboh Kingdom are ready to work with the government and the security agencies to fight insecurity in their various domains, accusing some non-indigenes of being responsible for the kidnapping cases recorded in the area.

The monarch directed other traditional rulers and chiefs in Igboh Clan to regularly convene meetings with their subjects with a view to gathering relevance information that would be useful in the fight against criminality in the kingdom.

In attendance at the meeting were members of the Igboh Kingdom Divisional Council of Traditional Rulers and Chiefs, heads of security agencies, community development committee chairmen, youth leaders, and other stakeholders from across Igboh Kingdom.