DAMIAN DURUIHEOMA looks at a number of new approaches Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has deployed to secure the state against kidnapping and other criminal activities, and reports that the state is having a new outlook as an investment haven
The ongoing demolition of property and buildings used for kidnapping and other criminal activities in the state has brought to the fore the high premium of the state governor, Barr. Peter Mbah, attaches to the ongoing war against insecurity in the state. This unorthodox approach has raised eyebrows among critics, but early results suggest a significant reduction in violent incidents, particularly kidnapping for ransom. It has also given a renewed sense of hope among residents and visitors.
Upon his assumption of office on May 23, 2023, as the governor of Enugu State, Dr. Mbah inherited insecurity, which held down Southeast. Enugu was not totally immune from the menace of kidnapping, cultism, and clashes between farmers and herders plaguing the economy of the Southeast region.
Across the region, it became a tales of woes for the residents and people of the region as criminal elements hijacked the secession agitation by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in recent years in the Southeast geopolitical zone.
Since then, kidnapping has become the order of the day for every criminal in the region, including non-indigenes, taking advantage of the porous situation to perpetrate evil. These criminal elements who had no interest in the secession struggles of the original leaders, only hid under the ‘Biafra or IPOB’s Mondays sit-at-home’ catchphrase to carry out their kidnapping activities.
No week passed by without tales of people being kidnapped in different parts of the five states that make up the zone.
Stories abound of innocent travellers who were caught in the web of dare-devil kidnappers and taken into bushes and hideouts where they were kept. At the same time, the abductors demanded ransom from their families.
While some kidnapped victims got lucky and survived the ordeal after paying ransom and lived to tell their stories, others who were not so lucky, paid the ransom and were still killed. Their dead bodies and personal items littered the forests where they were held captive.
Expectedly, these vicious activities posed threats to life and property and altered the peaceful co-existence in these states, even as they crippled economic activities within the region with businesses relocating to other regions.
Worried by the negative implications of insecurity on the state, Governor Peter Mbah took a robust and multifaceted approach on the assumption of office to combat the menace, starting with ending Mondays’ sit-at-home regime.
While residents hearkened to his calls and brushed aside the Mondays sit-at-home to continue their normal businesses, the perpetrators clung on to kidnapping for ransom as their only means of ‘staying in business’.
The governor would a few days later launch the Distress Rapid Squad (DRS), a new police team to patrol the streets of Enugu metropolis, aiming to swiftly respond to security issues in the state capital. To facilitate their operations, the governor provided numerous vehicles for the squad.
To deepen the war against insecurity, Governor Mbah also set up the N20 billion Enugu State Security Trust Fund. The fund, by a financial expert, Dr. Ike Chioke, according to Mbah, was expected to be raised from private sector support in that regard. It was learned that it has since been expended on building cutting-edge security infrastructure such as deploying CCTV across the state, with a central Command and Control Centre, where all that is going on is monitored and crimes prevented.
While rejigged security agencies took the battle against kidnapping to the criminals’ hideouts in the forests of Ugwuogo -Nike, Akpawfu, Udi, and Ezeagu, among others, those dislodged therefrom, decided to use abandoned or unoccupied properties to perpetrate their crimes in villages.
There were tales of kidnapped victims who were rescued from unoccupied mansions built in some villages across the state with villagers not suspecting any evil going on in such places.
For instance, a multimillion naira mansion located at Amabor Owelli Community in Awgu Local Government Area of the state, is one such buildings. The mansion, which was situated almost opposite St. John’s Pro-Cathedral Church, Owelli Court, on a major road, was said to be used for keeping victims of kidnapping, whose families had to pay huge ransoms before they regained their freedom.
The situation worried not only the residents of the state but the state governor, Peter Mbah, whose administration’s lofty ideas of making the state investment haven, were on the brink of being frustrated.
In response to the escalating kidnapping activities, Governor Mbah on August 20, 2024, adopted a new approach to the war against kidnapping with the policy of demolishing any property where suspected kidnappers operate from. The government had warned property owners to take necessary steps to know their prospective tenants before leasing properties to them, informing that in line with Section 315 of the Criminal Code (Second Amendment) Law Cap. 30, Laws of Enugu State(2016), it would move against properties, whether private residences or business premises, used for kidnap purposes.
According to the law, “If the building or structure owned by the offender or any other person, who knows or ought to reasonably know that the building or structure is being used for that purpose, the building or structure shall be demolished or forfeited to the State Government.”
A statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, the government said the step was in continuation of the determined effort of the Governor Peter Mbah Administration to rid the state of all forms of crimes and criminalities.
Not long after the warning was issued, the government identified some known kidnapping hideouts in some parts of the state. On Saturday, October 5, 2024, the state government’s task force team led by the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA) demolished a multimillion-naira mansion at Amabor Owelli Community in Awgu Local Government Area of the state. Also at Nkwubor Layout in Emene Nike, Enugu, the government demolished some properties, including an uncompleted storey-building with an underground tunnel, where a large cache of arms and ammunition were recovered and a large farm housing a poultry, piggery, and plantain plantation at Ogbeke Nike all in Enugu East LGA.
It was gathered that several AK-47 rifles, semi-automatic weapons, and all manners of ammunition; dozens of proscribed and offensive weapons were recovered from the beautiful mansion in Awgu. Nkwubor Nike, 17 firearms were recovered, including eight AK-47 rifles, seven pump action rifles, and two short guns, while two AK47 rifles were recovered at the Ogbeke Nike farm. Shrines, charms, and mini Indian hemp farms were also destroyed.
Speaking with newsmen during one of the demolitions, the Executive Chairman, Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority, Hon. Uche Anya said that the Peter Mbah government was determined to exterminate all manner of criminality.
“So, people were kidnapped and brought here, including the woman that was kidnapped near the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus.
“You can see the trouble we took to get here today. So, this has been ongoing. But after today, this place will never exist again in the manner you met it. That is why we are here to send a strong signal and we are also warning property owners not to come and tell us that they are in South Africa, China or Germany and do not know what is happening.
“Once your property or commercial entity is used for kidnapping or anything involving grievous bodily harm or threat, including attempted murder, we will come after you and your property,” he stated.
The government also warned landlords that it would not entertain any excuses in enforcing relevant laws of the state mandating the government to bring down any property linked to such evil acts.
“What you see here today is the continuation of the war of the Enugu State Government against all manner of criminality. Today, we are here to take down a kidnappers’ den. The property you see us taking down right now is a place where horrendous criminal activities happen.
“For instance, on 25th of May 2024, some deadly kidnappers abducted a man in Enugu, brought him here, stripped bare, even naked to his red boxers, bound him, pointed guns at him, and forced him to start talking to his family to request for money. They posted that video to his relatives.
“They held him down, but to the glory of God and the commitment of Governor Mbah, who is giving his all to security, the government and security agencies, through our state-of-the-art security system, were able to see what was happening in this rural community.
“Security agencies moved to the place. Every other person was arrested, but the kingpin escaped to Ebonyi. We tracked him to Ebonyi, and he escaped to Lagos where the Enugu State Government and the security agencies caught up with him.
“Interestingly, the kingpin of the gang that did this nonsense was a member of the same gang we went after somewhere at Ogbeke Nike,” Anya said.
The ECTDA Chairman said the government would in addition take over the properties and put them to good use, noting that the demolition is an ongoing process as more structures were already marked to go down.
“So, all these places will be taken over by the government and we can turn it into a children playgrounds, garden, parks or primary health care. But whoever thought he or she owned this place before this hour will no longer touch his or her foot here forever”
Governor Mbah himself, in his keynote address at the 2024 Standing Committee Meeting of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, held in the state capital in October, ruled out political correctness in the war against insecurity in the state.
He also reiterated his administration’s resolve to revamp social infrastructure, reduce poverty, and grow the state’s economy, all of which are seen as critical components in the fight against insecurity.
Results and impact on the economy
While the new strategy is still ongoing, the results and impacts on the economy have been quite encouraging as there has been a huge decrease in reported incidents of kidnapping and banditry in the past few months.
The major attractions to Enugu are hospitality, real estate, and commerce, among others. These endowments have over the years made the state more attractive and livable for those seeking places of investments in the Southeast geopolitical zone and Nigeria at large.
There have also been improved economic and social activities as local businesses are booming, and economic activity is increasing on Mondays, which had previously and permanently declared sit-at-home days.
According to available data, there has been a serious boost in confidence by local and external investors, which The Nation gathered that has seen. Investments worth several billions of naira are being attracted to the state.
These investments, which are coming through partnerships with the government, include the over $300 million state-of-the-art medical city by a group of Nigerians in the diaspora; the N40bn deal to bring back to life Sunrise Flour Deal by Jelfah Nigeria Limited, a private investor; the N100bn Enugu United Palm Products Limited among many other private concerns such as the construction of Nortra Tractor Assembly Plant and Service Centre, an investment by ODK Group of Denmark and the New-Watson Doors Industry established by a Chinese among others.
Apart from these, the state equally hosted high-profile international conferences and events, such as the 55th International Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners; the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL), the 2024 Gaming Conference, and many others.
The Managing Director/CEO of the Enugu State Investment Development Authority), Dr. Sam Ogbu-Nwobodo, attributed the success to the “tremendously improved security” in the state. According to him, it was not surprising to see the state was bubbling once again with business and social activities, owing to the fact that the state has become the safest in the Southeast since Mbah took over as governor.
“Insecurity has been a national thing, not really peculiar to only the Southeast. That’s why when Governor Peter Mbah came on board, he came up with a clear idea on how to deal with it, using both kinetic and non-kinetic methods.
“No country in the world has ever achieved zero security, not even in America or Switzerland can you have a society devoid of crime. The only thing is that for you to keep making progress; you have to have a government that is determined to continuously improve and invest in solving the problems. And in our case, it has been so remarkable. It can only get better now that everywhere is deployed with cameras that monitor what goes on across the state.
“So, from where we started, it is like night and day. His Excellency the governor is determined to build an economy with a GDP of $34 billion dollars in eight years. And from the way he is going about it, that mark is almost met”, he said.
Speaking with our correspondent, the Director General, Southeast Chamber of Commerce Industry Mines and Agriculture, Dr. Dan Ochi, commended the state government for prioritising the security of the state and infrastructure, saying that has led to a serious improvement in business and social activities.
“I must say that the rate of crime, particularly kidnapping, is reducing because the criminals are seeing the anti-kidnapping measures adopted by the government
