Lawrence Nwimo, Awka
Anambra State Government has denied reports making the rounds that it employed the services of herbalists and traditional spiritualists in fighting insecurity in the state.
Reports have it that the State Government reached an agreement with traditionalists to eliminate criminally-minded elements and to stop making charms used by criminals especially, the ones used for abducting people.
However, a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor, Christian Aburime, on Thursday, said the reports were untrue and aimed at misleading the public.
The statement said the Government only approved the registration of the practitioners to help unravel those behind the successive killings as well as intensify fight against the insecurity in the state.
According to the statement, “The attention of Anambra State Government has been drawn to several mischievous write-ups and misleading comments about the State engaging Traditional Spiritualists to combat insecurity.
“While it is a general knowledge that Government alone cannot fight insecurity, it is instructive to note that the story of engaging Traditional Spiritualists by Anambra State Government to fight insecurity is not true as being peddled by some mischief makers.
“What the State Government has said as explained by the Commissioner of Information, Sir Paul Nwosu, is that Anambra State Executive Council (ANSEC) has approved the registration of Traditional Medicine Practitioners and to categorize them under Herbalists and Spiritualists with a view to identifying those among them that support and protect criminals.
“The Commissioner in his statement to the press categorically stated: ‘Government has discovered that some native doctors provide charms with which gunmen operate and it has therefore become necessary to enumerate and register them as practitioners, categorised into Herbalists and Spiritualists.’
“The Commissioner further explained that ‘while Government appreciates the fact that some of them add value to health care, it is also not unaware that some also have helped to imbue these criminals with the dare-devil confidence that has driven them into committing despicable crimes such as kidnapping, extortion of ransom, beheading, etc.’
“He added that after the registration exercise, where they are found culpable on such crimes it will be easy to fish them out from the register.
“From the foregoing, it is very clear that the government is taking this necessary step as part of its proactive and holistic efforts to curb insecurity in the State.
“Therefore, the news making the rounds that the State Government has engaged the services of Traditional Spiritualists to fight insecurity is completely false and unfounded.
“Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo will continue to do everything possible to ensure that sanity, peace, law and order is fully restored in Anambra State.”
