Oraifite, an Anambra State community
ofbrimming with affluent Igbo people, is breathing easy again after the
celebrated capture of a wanted crime suspect, writes EMMANUEL OBE
It is unusually calm this Wednesday
afternoon in Oraifite, the second largest town in Ekwusigo Local
Government Area of Anambra State. The journey through Oraifite, which
branches off the Onitsha–Owerri Expressway, becomes more exciting as you
go deeper into its different quarters.
Like many other towns in the Southern
and Central Senatorial districts of Anambra State, Oraifite’s landmass
is limited, but it has compensated for this with a population density of
almost a 1000 people per square kilometre, which should be one of the
highest in Africa.
Divided in two by the Onitsha–Owerri
Expressway, most of the population lives northeast of the community,
while the flood plains of the south-western part are sparsely populated.
Gully erosion has been a major challenge to the community, which has
spent a lot of resources covering up the gullies that open up widely
every rainy season.
In every quarter of the town, modern
buildings, mainly duplexes with the latest roofing designs, are fighting
very hard to replace the older architecture that ruled the region in
1980s and 1990s when the town witnessed a wave of prosperity among its
people after they took to merchandising, moving to Lagos and overseas in
search of financial success.
It would appear that every family here
has one person or the other that could showcase the latest trend in
building architecture, a clear departure from the days when only a few
people like the Igwe Oraifite, the Mokelus and the Offors boasted the
best houses in town.
With its materially successful and
highly religious population, Oraifite is one community that is the envy
of other towns around it. On the surface, it appeared that all was going
on well until the early morning of Sept. 3, 2012 when a combined team
of the Anambra State Anti-Robbery Squad and Mobile Police Ssquad stormed
the Ifite area of the town in a commando style.
Within two hours, the operation had
become successful with the recovery of the largest cache of arms
anywhere in Nigeria in peacetime from the home of one Olisa Ifedika,
alleged to be the mastermind of many recent high profile kidnappings,
armed robbery and attacks on police formations.
The Anambra State Commissioner of
Police, Mr. Ballah Nasarawa, describes the feat as “a tremendous
achievement in curbing crime and criminalities in Anambra State.”
Taking a second look at the cache of arms recovered the police chief says, “With this, any group can defeat a small army.”
Among the arms recovered in an
underground armoury at the home of Ifedika were 27 AK-47 rifles, one K2
rifle, two 06 rifles, one general purpose machine gun, one rocket
launcher, 17 rockets, 13 rocket grenades, six pump action guns, three
locally-manufactured guns and one Berretta pistol. A total of 14,425
rounds of live ammunition were also recovered.
The wild jubilations among the residents
of the town that followed the arrest of Ifedika and his father and the
recovery of the large cache of arms was an unambiguous indication of the
silent pain the people had been going through while Ifedika reigned
unchallenged.
The President-General of the Oraifite Improvement Union, Raphael Nweke, says Ifedika’s fall came through divine intervention.
“It was only when God decided that he should be arrested that he was arrested,” Nweke tells Saturday PUNCH. “We can now feel very free to move about.”
In a rare case of sincerity, the Anambra
police commissioner acknowledges that it “was a good spirited citizen”
that gave the police the tip off that led to the arrest and recovery of
the arms.
“It shows that a positive development is
brewing between the police and the people and that the crisis of
confidence that hitherto separated the police from the civil populace is
dying out,” says Nasarawa.
Many residents and natives of the
community could not hide their joy after the capture of Ifejika, who,
though, was well known for his nefarious activities, could not be
confronted for the fear that he would unleash his men on anyone that
dared give his secrets out to the authorities.
The PG of the community says that though
everyone knew about the activities of Ifejika, the man had remained
evasive, most of the time staying away from the community.
“We don’t harbour criminals in
Oraifite,” he offers. “We’re praying that no other youth from the
community gets involved in this. The town is now calm and everybody is
happy after this great relief.”
Of course, everywhere is calm now in
Oraifite, but the area around the Ifedika property is like a security
zone: security men still keep watch over the ruins of the house the
suspect’s father built.
Governor Peter Obi, who led a team of
security chiefs to Ifedika’s home to demolish the houses of the suspect
and that of his father, said he could not imagine that a young citizen
of the state and his father would “be involved in this level of
criminality, living their lives by causing pain to other citizens.”
“We can no longer continue this kind of
life. People must live purposeful lives; we’re going to start looking
for his business associates,” says the governor, who appears to have
taken a vow to run kidnappers not only out of town but out of business.
Obi hinges his confiscation and
destruction of the property of suspected kidnappers on a law passed
three years by the Anambra State House of Assembly, which only did not
prescribe the death sentence for kidnapping, but also authorised the
government to confiscate or destroy property used by kidnappers as their
operational base.
“This is part of my administration’s
effort in making sure that criminal activities are eradicated in Anambra
State. We will not stop until Anambra becomes safe,” Obi says.
He quickly adds that he has initiated
the due process needed to prosecute the suspect, while efforts would be
stepped up to trace the location of his property elsewhere for
confiscation, saying no criminal will be allowed to enjoy the proceeds
of their crime.
The governor had ordered the sealing up
of property of two other citizens, which were used as operational bases
of kidnappers at Nkpor and Nri.
The governor’s action has however
generated a heated debate in legal circles about the legality or
otherwise of his decision to destroy the property of Ifedika and his
father when they had not been found guilty by a competent court of law.
“What the governor did was simply jungle
justice,”says Mr. Ken Okonkwo, a lawyer. “The law presumes everybody
innocent until he has been found guilty. Where was Ifedika tried? Let us
not rubbish good intentions with false steps.”
The Oraifite PG, while commending the
approach adopted by government, urges that the punishment should not be
selective. He says it should also be extended to everyone indicted for
kidnapping and armed robbery.
The Anambra State Commissioner of
Police, Nasarawa, who sees the Oraifite breakthrough as a personal
triumph, has gone ahead to recover more arms and ammunition based on
information he says Ifedika gave the police.
The latest recoveries were done in Uli,
where the police recovered two AK-47 rifles, one Type 06 rifle, one
rocket grenade, 27 AK-47 magazines, three rocker propellers, 770 rounds
of 7.62mm live ammunition and nine chains used to lock kidnap victims.
Nasarawa was welcomed to the state
earlier in the year by armed robbers, who just a few days after he
assumed office, attacked two police stations at Ukpor and Amichi and
killed three policemen at Ozubulu and five policemen at Okija.
The commissioner says part of the arms
and ammunition recovered from the kidnap suspects were actually the ones
carted away when the police stations were attacked.
“This suspect has been a most wanted
armed robbery/kidnapping kingpin responsible for series of high profile
kidnappings, armed robberies and murder, including the kidnap of Jerome
Okolie, Igwe of Ihembosi in EkwusigoLGA in 2010 and the recent kidnap of
the traditional ruler of Ukpo in DunukofiaLGA, Igwe Robbert Eze.
“His gang is also responsible for the
killing of five policemen at Okija on 22nd June, 2012, as well as murder
of three policemen at Ozubulu on 2nd April, 2012 and the violent attack
on Amichi and Ukpor police divisions in Nnewi South LGA on 4th April,
2012.”
