By Chimezie Godfrey
The Government of Anambra State has said that the lurid pictures being circulated in the social media are not from the Awkuzu incident.
This was made known in a statement by the Anambra State Commissioner for Information & Public Enlightenment, Don Adinuba and made available to Newsdiaryonline.
The Commissioner stated that following the clash in the early morning of Monday, April 26, between some people in Uzo Nkwo, Awkuzu, in Oyi Local Government Area, and some non-indigenes, some people were killed and some others maimed. Both sides recorded casualties. Security agents quickly moved to the scene and took control of the situation.
He however noted that rather than give a reliable picture of what transpired, some external forces have been posting on social media lurid pictures of what took place outside Anambra State long ago and claim that they are pictures of the incident at Awkuzu.
“The misleading pictures and accounts are so contradictory that while some claim that the dead were indigenes, others claim they were non-indigenes. Each side has been desperate to incite the public against the other.
“The Anambra State Government is deeply concerned that some mischievous people would go to the extent of producing pictures of heinous killings elsewhere and claim that the murders took place in our dear state.
“If any of the pictures being circulated on a section of the social media were true, those behind them would have produced and circulated videos of the dastardly killings.
“They would not have stopped at circulating mere still pictures in this era of instantaneous communication and citizen journalism,” he stated.
The Commissioner said that those behind these false pictures and misleading narratives of the unfortunate incident at Awkuzu have an ulterior motive: to stoke a fire in a state which for the past seven years has been acknowledged by all to be the safest and most peaceful in the whole country.
He added that it is a shame that nothing is beyond some vicious elements in this election year in Anambra State.
“The State Government has already taken some measures to fish out those who perpetrated the dastardly killings of fellow citizens in Awkuzu and those who have produced pictures from all manner of places with the sole of aim of portraying our people as barbarians and raising tension in the polity.
“The steps include the imposition of a curfew in Awkuzu, Igbariam, Aguleri, Umunya, Umueri and Nteje communities from 7 pm to 6 am until further notice.
“Indeed, far from succeeding, the culprits, who are reportedly from outside the state, will be identified, arrested, tried, sentenced and made to feel the full weight of the law.
“Anybody who sheds the blood of innocent souls in Anambra State will account for it both in this world and in the world to come,” he stressed.
The Commissioner disclosed that all those who have been involved in grave security breaches in the state in the last few weeks are already being arrested.
According to him, they include the nine persons who on March 31, 2021, killed three police officers providing security at the Isuofia Civic Centre in Aguata Local Government Area where the erstwhile Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo of the All Grand Progressives Alliance (APGA), was having an interactive session with the youth in his Isuofia community.
He stressed that Anambra State will, in spite of all odds, remain the Light of the Nation.
