AWKA- Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, Chairman of Anambra Truth, Justice and Peace Commission (ATJPC), has paid glowing tribute to personnel of security agencies who paid the supreme price in the course of duty.
Odinkalu said this after a closed-door session of representatives of the security agencies who appeared before the panel in Awka on Monday.
The chairman, who described the session as helpful, said it was an affirmation to the multidimensional nature of insecurity in Anambra and Southeast in general.
He, however, regretted that the authorities of the security agencies were not doing enough in recognising the sacrifices of their personnel.
According to Odinkalu, a very important thing is that service personnel have suffered significantly; some have died, some have been kidnapped and disappeared while others have suffered injuries.
“In all cases, we would like to see those sacrifices better acknowledged and their families better taken care off. It is important that we exercise this and we hope our recommendations will be acknowledged when the report comes out,” he said.
Odinkalu said Anambra security situation was a peculiar one which manifested from the interplay of multiplicity of causes including land pressure, cultism, communal leadership tussle and organised crime.
He said there were parts of the state where we have IPOB/ESN problems but it did not represent the majority of the states.
“Anambra represents a particular theatre with unique manifestations because of the land economy and high population density.
“It is a complex situation which goes beyond the mono narrative of IPOB/ESN, that theory is no longer Sustainable.
“We have cultism, organised crime, gun running, politics, intra communal governance crisis between Traditional Rulers and Presidents General,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Department of State Services, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and Nigeria Correctional Services were some of the agencies that appeared on Monday. (NAN)
