Operatives of the newly formed Anambra State Vigilante Service, popularly known as Agunechemba, have been accused of extorting road users across the state, a civil rights group, International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, has claimed.
This is coming days after the organisation also accused the security outfit of killing no less than 40 persons extra-judicially since its establishment.
In a statement made available on Thursday, the group claimed that its field officers discovered operatives of the Agunechemba extorting N200 from motorists at various checkpoints.
The statement was signed by Chinwe Umeche, head, democracy and good governance programme; Chidinma Udegbunam, head, campaign and publicity; Obianuju Igboeli, head, civil liberties and rule of law, and Emeka Umeagbalasi, board chair.
The organisation claimed in the report that the incurable bane of the personnel of the police and the military on Nigerian roads, particularly across the South East and the South South has equally become the modus operandi of the operatives of the Anambra State Vigilante Group.
Read Also: South-West Governors unite to combat ISWAP, Boko Haram threats with Joint Security Force
It claimed that its field volunteers in at least five different locations along Nnobi, Ichida, Awka-Etiti, Igboukwu, Uga and Umuchu Road axis were seen extorting motorists.
“The checks specifically, took place between January 30 and 31, 2025, during which the operatives of the now dreaded outfit were sighted mounting roadblocks and forcing motorists to part with N200 notes per motorist/per trip.
“The security implications of such corrupt practices on crime detection and apprehension of suspected criminals, and their criminal properties are very far-reaching.
“Apart from exposing government’s inadequate welfare packages for members of the new outfit and glaring lack of discipline and command, and control accountability, they can also facilitate an escape route for persons of the underworld as it is anything goes, once each motorist is forced to part with N200, not minding who or what the motorist is plying on the road with,” the group said
Also, in questioning the modus operandi of the vigilante group, the organization said “apart from demolishing buildings which has no place in the country’s Criminal Code, 2004, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, and the country’s 1999 Constitution, their operations have also been mired in guesswork, false labeling, hearsay conclusions, indiscriminate killings such as killing of unarmed and defenseless persons, abductions and disappearances of those arrested, and those critically shot and wounded.
“A typical case in point was the February 6, 2025, killing of the trio of defenseless artisans- Malachy Iwuanyanwu and Odinkalu Chinonso of Umueze in Ehime-Mbano of Imo State and Kosisochukwu of Isuofia, Governor Soludo’s hometown in Aguata, Anambra State.
“Their killing took place in Owerre-Ezukala in Orumba South of Anambra State, during which not less than 12 others were abducted, stripped half -naked and falsely labeled or accused of being involved in kidnappings and ritual killings.
“Among the abducted defenseless citizens in the community were three NYSC corps members abducted at the community’s NYSC camp and a deformed, later freed after having been threatened and traumatized following outcries by their colleagues and locals,” it further alleged.
ADVERTISEMENT
