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By Madu Obi
The Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Aderemi Adeoye has said that those who sponsor insurgency in the South East live abroad, explaining that they are mostly indigenes of the states in the geopolitical zone.
Adeoye, who spoke with reporters in Awka, lamented that those they sponsor give them the false impression that they are making progress when, in actual fact, they are merely ripping them off.
Adeoye said: "Most of them (sponsors) are abroad, but they are indigenes, who are misled and misguided about the true nature of the conflict."
"Their main source of information is the propaganda they read on social media and they continue to give them false perception that the realization of the Republic of Biafra is imminent, and all they need to do is to sustain the onslaught."
"And their onslaught comprises of firing three rounds at a military outpost and running away. That is no fighting, but that is what they need to do to deceive their sponsors abroad, to continue to get funding."
"It is business and nothing but business to them. That is propaganda, and the reality is that everyday they are losing ground."
"They increasingly continue to target their own people who are members of the society and we owe those people a duty of protection."
"They are in it only for their selfish interests, and that is what those people abroad want to hear, and they will be like our boys are doing it, and they contribute money and send to them, and these boys use a small part of the money to buy bullets, go to a small location and shoot and video it and send to their sponsors."
Adeoye said the police has succeeded in blocking the avenues of their arms supply, adding that by the time they are successfully blocked, they might resort to using catapult.
He added: "Soon, if they attack anywhere, the people will catch them and beat sense into their head. So I can tell you that the problem will soon be over, and the people will enjoy complete peace again.
Let us know that development can only happen when there is peace.
"If you create insecurity, you are undoing your region, and once there is insecurity, no one thinks of development again. It is better for all hands to be on deck. It is our duty to create peace for development in this region, and my focus is Anambra State."
Adeoye also spoke on the increasing menace of cultism in Awka, the state capital, adding that police operations led to the arrest of 55 suspected cultists at the weekend, including 14 who were rounded up during their initiation in a forest.
According to him, "What is happening is that this is a gang war by rival cults, and they target opponents. We are against it because of the fear it causes in the minds of investors and other law abiding citizen.
"Among those recently arrested, 25 have been linked to crimes that are cult related and arraignment in court has already started, and those found not to be culpable have been released."
"That is not the end. We are analyzing statements made by all those arrested and we are building credible evidence against their sponsors, and we do not want to catch anyone on the elbow and they wriggle out."
"For those sponsors, we want to catch them red handed with credible evidence that can stand scrutiny in the court of law, because once we descend on them, it is straight to court. We are trying to conclude our investigation first before we take action."
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