State of emergency: We cannot yield to intimidation – Anambra lawmaker fumes

Chief Emeka Aforka, Anambra State Lawmaker representing Orumba North State Constituency, has called on highly-placed government officials to be mindful of their public utterances.

Aforka, the Deputy Majority Leader, made the call in an interview with The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Awka.

This is coming few days after the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, (SAN) threatened “that the Federal Government may impose a state of emergency on Anambra if the new spate of violence persists during the Nov. 6 gubernatorial election in the State.”

He described the statement as undemocratic, capable of throwing the country into chaos and highly unacceptable to him and the people of his constituents who are lawful people.

Aforka said that the declaration is not just a strong indictment of the ability of the government to handle the security challenges of the country but a proof of failure on the part of the security personnel.

He said the declaration has presented the President, Muhammadu Buhari, as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, the country’s Chief Security officer in charge of the Nigeria Police Force, State Security Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps as incapable.

Aforka urged Malami to withdraw such undemocratic and unpatriotic statements which has hugely embarrassed the Nigerian citizens, especially the Anambra public before the world.

He said that the statement had confirmed the fear of some Anambra people that some politicians outside Anambra in collaboration with their local followers are behind the recent spate of killings in the State.

Aforka described the declarations as a ploy to frighten the Anambra electorate from coming out to vote in the Nov. 6 governorship polls, thereby enabling an environment for voter apathy.

He said that such a ploy will not work in the Anambra governorship or any other form of election in the State.

He said, “Anambra electorate knows what their political aspirations are and cannot yield to political distractions of any type.

“The declaration is unable to intimidate Anambra people from coming out to participate in the governorship election of Nov. 6, so the threat to impose an emergency rule on the state is undemocratic.

“Anambra has not recorded death above 15 persons since the new scales of violence in the state, for a state that has for the past seven years enjoyed a well-deserved reputation of being Nigeria’s safest and most peaceful state.

“Anambra has not recorded a fraction of casualties the nation has seen in places like Borno, Zamfara, Katsina, Benue, Plateau, Yobe, Niger, Adamawa, Taraba, amongst others, where terrorists have killed several thousands of civilians and attacked military formations”.

State of emergency: We cannot yield to intimidation – Anambra lawmaker fumes