RAYMOND OZOJI reports
Following recent attack on a church at Lilu community Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State where the church was burnt down by daredevil hoodlums including vehicles parked inside the church premises and some worshipers who were killed while others sustained varying degrees of severe injuries from gun shots, Anambra-born security expert, Amb. Dr. John Metchie has advised Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo to consider forest guards for local security in the state.
Metchie who gave the advice during an exclusive interview with this journalist in Umueri his country home in Anambra-East Local Government Area, maintained that it has become very necessary for the government in power to establish forest guards as part of the state’s security architecture especially in forested areas like the Anambra-South senatorial district hitherto under the captivity of non-state actors.
He said that the forest guards which are directly domiciled in the office of the National Security Adviser Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, are well-trained security personnel specifically meant to comb forested regions of the country to ward off criminal elements in the bushes.
Metchie believes very strongly that forest guards could help tackle the menace of unknown gunmen in places like Ihiala, Orumba-North and South and some other locations in the state, stressing that deployment of the forest guards in troubled areas would indeed be very complimentary to the services of the police and the military.
Although he commended the efforts of the state local security outfit called Agunechemba as he observed that relative calm have returned in troubled communities following their expeditions. But he insisted that training and retraining of local security personnel would go a long way in improving quality of their services especially in the use of firearms.
Metchie who singlehandedly built a joint military base in Umueri community for security purposes in the Omambala region of the state, emphasized that forest guards could be conscripted into the Udo Ga Chi security team and their primary focus would be the forests where criminals retire after their nefarious activities, pointing out that forest guards could guarantee internal security in the local communities.
Metchie also stated that the advent of the Anambra State Homeland Security Law has further exemplified Governor Soludo’s commitment to local security especially with the onslaught on criminal elements.
He therefore believes that should Governor Soludo look in the direction of forest guards, local security will further improve because forest guards, according to him, have been specifically trained to secure the forest regions and redeem them from outlaws and unknown gunmen terrorising the citizenry.
The security guru however enjoined Ndi-Anambra to support Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo’s initiatives in ensuring a safe environment for all and sundry, stressing that the security of lives and properties is a collective responsibility and that all hands must be on deck to ensure that Soludo succeeded in the fight against insecurity in Anambra State.
