Anambra State has become one of Nigeria’s safest regions through a coordinated security strategy involving federal agencies and local vigilantes, Governor Chukwuma Soludo stated on Wednesday. The governor’s assessment follows a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, where national security was a key topic.
Speaking after the meeting, Soludo described President Tinubu’s commitment to addressing insecurity nationwide as “emphatic and reassuring.” He emphasized that protecting lives and property is a fundamental duty of government at every tier and stressed that effective security requires systemic collaboration between the federal government, state governments, local councils, and communities.
The governor credited improved safety to sustained joint operations. He commended the contributions of the military, police, Department of State Services (DSS), and Civil Defence Corps, alongside the state’s own security apparatus. This includes the Anambra State Vigilante Group and specialised units targeting cultism and touting. Soludo reported that 62 criminal camps have been dismantled in the state since his administration began.
A significant indicator of the restored peace, he noted, was the free movement of residents and visitors throughout the 2025 holiday season. The governor linked this directly to the collapse of the five-year “sit-at-home” order, previously enforced every Monday by armed groups in the South-East region. He described the weekly shutdown as “destructive and debilitating,” estimating it cost businesses and informal workers approximately 20 per cent of weekly productivity. The order also disrupted education and long-term human capital development while crippling commerce, notably forcing the closure of major markets like the Onitsha Main Market.
Soludo said traders have recently returned to Onitsha market in large numbers, signalling renewed confidence. He pledged to regenerate the market and restore its status as a premier commercial hub in West Africa.
The governor’s remarks position Anambra’s security model as a potential reference point within President Tinubu’s broader national strategy to reduce crime. His administration attributes the turnaround to persistent community-level engagement combined with formal security operations, suggesting a coordinated approach could yield similar results in other regions facing persistent criminality.
