From Uchenna Ezeadigwe
Awka
The Special Adviser to the state governor, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo on Community Security, Prince Kenneth Emeakayi has stated that the state government dis not ban the security outfit of “Anambra Vigilante Groups but only changed the name to a unified structure called “Agunechemba”.
The security expert, Hon Emeakayi disclosed this during an exclusive interview with journalists on thursday at his office, Government House, Awka.
Emeakayi maintained that the laws establishing the Anambra Vigilante Groups ( AVG) in 2014 have been repealed adding that the only legal security outfit mandated by the Anambra State government to operate at the local government areas and community levels is the Agunechemba Security Squad officially unveiled by governor Soludo, early last year.
The government only banned the name Anambra Vigilante Group (AVG), it identity and way of operation and not the employees itself as being wrongly reported by the press.
“For clarity, repealing of the law that established it doesn’t mean stopping the security employees with valid means of identification from operation.”
According to him, the office of the security adviser to governor Soludo on community matters headed by me, don’t banned AVG operatives. The true story is that what we have earlier in Anambra State was AVG with a law enacted by the State House of Assembly and signed by the then governor Willie Obiano. Now the Anambra State Homeland Security Law 2025 under section 39 has repealed the AVG law, meaning that the state can’t longer have two laws at the same time and on the same subject matter. What we have now according to the new law is “Agunechemba security outfit”
“Section 38 of the same new law, said and I quote, “every existing vigilante unit in the state at the command of this law shall continue in operation but shall transit from AVG to Agunechemba with proper documentation and licenses.”
Speaking further on the issue of security operatives collecting tips from road users and commercial drivers, Hon Emeakayi said the agency did not mandate any security personnel to act in such manner while urging the public to report any form of misconduct to the appropriate office.
