The crux of the matter at the general assembly cum end-of-year program of the Anambra State Association of Town Unions (ASATU) held at the ASATU secretariat complex Government House Awka, was the incessant gruesome murder of the Presidents-General who dared to expose drug dealers and other criminal activities in their respective communities.
The Presidents-General who recounted their ordeals in the hands of moneybags who provide cover for criminal elements in the communities, took turns to explain that the Nigeria Police is making matters worse by not guaranteeing source protection when intelligence is made available to them.
The PGs said they were tired of the police not protecting sources of information because when errand boys of drug dealers or drug dealers themselves were exposed and reported to the Police or when arrests were made before the PGs returned to their communities from the police station, the arrested suspects were already waiting for them at home to deal with them ruthlessly for daring to report them and their principals to the police Some of the PGs who shared very harrowing experiences in their respective communities said it was time the government guaranteed the security and protection of the Presidents-General in their efforts to rid the communities of bad elements unleashing terror and mayhem at the grassroots.
The ASATU general assembly cum end-of-year get-together which Deputy Governor Dr. Onyekachukwu Ibezim was a special guest of honor, alongside other very important personalities including the Transition Committee Chairmen of Idemili-South, Anaocha and Anambra-East, who were conferred Eminent Personality Awards, was a veritable platform to further encourage the PGs not to despair but to be more intrepid in the fight against illicit drug dealers, consumers of illicit drugs and other related crimes.
Speaking on the occasion, the immediate past National President of ASATU Chief Alex Onukwube, said Presidents-General should be applauded for their relentless fight against illicit drug abuse in the communities. Onukwube said the government has a lot to do to empower community leaders in the war against illicit drug dealers; and that they cannot win the war with bare hands.
He said some PGs have been killed in the fight against organized crimes and bad lives in the communities. He equally expressed concern that the government hasn’t done anything about PGs who have been killed while fighting crimes in their respective communities.
He therefore noted that the PGs were ready to assist the government in ridding bad elements of communities but stressed the need also for the government to guarantee adequate protection for the PGs. The government should help upgrade community vigilantes in terms of remunerations, training, and other logistics as he believes that local community vigilantes still operate in very crude ways.
