99.99% of Criminals Arrested in Anambra Are Igbos — Soludo

Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State has disclosed that almost all suspected criminals apprehended in the state in the past three years are of Igbo origin.

Speaking at a town hall meeting with Anambra indigenes in the diaspora at Metro Points Hotel, New Carrollton, Maryland, USA, Soludo said the discovery sharply contradicts the widespread belief that herdsmen were behind rising insecurity in the South-East.

“I have been in office for three years and three months. If we have arrested 100 criminals and kidnappers, 99.99% of them are Igbo youths,” the governor said.

He described the earlier narrative that Fulani herders were responsible for the crisis as a “lie pushed as propaganda,” adding that the misrepresentation lured many young people into violent crimes, including kidnapping, drug trafficking, and cyber fraud.

“Even those from other states now call it the ‘Anambra job’,” Soludo noted. “They go to their villages, buy motorcycles, and come here to join the business. They get taken into the bush, trained in the act. But when they are eventually arrested, they claim it’s the Fulanis.”

Soludo admitted he was initially swayed by the narrative of external aggression, believing that Igbos were under threat from outside forces.

“I came with that same false narrative — that the Fulanis are invading our people,” he said. “Therefore, we thought we were the liberators. So we, Igbos, went into the bush to chase them out.”

The governor, however, questioned the logic behind the actions of some so-called liberators. “Nobody asked how those claiming to be liberators survive in the forest for one, two, or even six months. How do they feed?” he queried.

Reiterating his point, Soludo declared: “I want you to quote me right — 99.99% of all the criminals we have arrested are Igbos. All these camps are Igbos.”

He appealed to members of the diaspora to invest in the state and contribute their skills, resources, and influence to the development and security of their homeland.