The governorship candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the forthcoming November 8 Anambra State gubernatorial election, Chioma Ifemeludike, has pledged to scrap the state-owned Agunechemba Vigilante Group if elected, citing its ineffectiveness in tackling insecurity across the state.
Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ on Thursday, Ifemeludike said the Agunechemba group failed to meet expectations when it had the opportunity to improve local security, adding that her administration would replace it with a new and better-structured community-based vigilante framework.
“I am going to scrap the Agunechemba vigilante group because it’s not effective; they weren’t adequate at the time that they had their chance,” she said.
The AAC candidate said her plan was to create a vigilante network that would operate directly under the supervision of both the government and community leadership, ensuring accountability, professionalism, and effectiveness in addressing local security challenges.
“I am going to adopt a framework — a vigilante network — to intervene in security matters in communities. I am going to recruit them from the local communities where they come from because I can’t bring foreigners into a community where they are not used to,” she explained.
“We will have it registered and recognised under the government and the people. We are going to make sure they are trained because training makes a difference. When you compare the training of a military officer and that of a police officer, you can tell the difference. This is where training makes the difference.”
Ifemeludike stressed that inadequate training of local security operatives often leads to misconduct, including assault and extortion — problems she intended to address through proper orientation and professional development.
“If you don’t adequately train your recruits and then push them out on the streets, how can you expect them to know how to interface with civilians and criminals? Then you begin to see cases of assault and extortion — the same issues we are trying to curb. It doesn’t make sense,” she said.
The AAC female governorship candidate also promised that her administration would equip local security personnel appropriately, but warned against arming them excessively.
“We are going to be equipping them, but it doesn’t mean handing them AK-47s,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense that we have to be scared of people who are supposed to make us feel safe. When you hand over physical guns to people without the needed orientation, you are putting the community at risk.”
The Anambra State governorship election is scheduled to hold on Saturday, with candidates from major political parties, including the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Labour Party (LP), African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the AAC, contesting for the state’s top seat.
