| dc.description.abstract | Violence in Anambra state has significantly increased in recent years, threatening the state's democratic process through kidnappings, armed robberies, and politically motivated attacks. The governorship election of Anambra State is slated for November 8, 2025, by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), with party primaries scheduled for March 2025. Voter turnout, candidate
involvement, and the electoral process's general integrity are all seriously threatened by insecurity, despite the fact that the election is essential to the state's future governance. Every day, residents especially investors are abducted and slain. The situation has deteriorated to a point where citizens were afraid to travel or are forced to take precautions, such as disguising their identities for safety, people were scared to return home to celebrate Christmas. In a decisive move to address the growing security concerns in the state, the Anambra State Executive Council (ANSEC) held its 33rd meeting on October 29, 2024, and resolved to confront the issues head-on. Despite these measures, insecurity in Anambra state has become increasingly dire. There has been a series of kidnappings and deaths as a result of insecurity in Anambra state. On 12th January, 2025 a female banker, identified simply as Ifeoma Onyekwelu, was reportedly been killed by suspected kidnappers in Anambra State, despite her family paying a ransom for her release. Just a few days after Anambra State Governor Prof. Charles Soludo established the Agụnechemba security group (also called Operation Udo Ga-Achị) to combat state insecurity, on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, gunmen abducted Dr. Cornelius Onuigbo, a urologist from the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi.
To address the worsening insecurity in Anambra State and check voter participation in the 2025
gubernatorial election, the following recommendations are proffered:
The Senate and House Committee on National Security and Intelligence, the Senate and House
Committee on Defence, and the Senate and House Committee on Electoral Matters through its legislative oversight may wish to hold a committee hearing (public/investigative) with the Anambra State Government and the Independent Electoral Commission on the need to proffer a lasting solution on the rising insecurity in Anambra state. This will help curb the menace and ensure a peaceful and successful governorship election in Anambra State come November 2025. | en_US |
