Mae West once said that you live only once, but if you do it right, once is enough. And the purpose of our lives is to be happy because life is a beautiful journey that is meant to be embraced to the fullest every day. However, that does not mean you have to wake up ready to seize the day and sometimes need a reminder that life is a great gift. Life brings us as many joyful moments as it does downfalls, and although there are days we wish there was a manual to follow, it simply wouldn’t be the same without the spontaneity.
That is why it marveled every rational thinker when a video went viral last week claiming that the controversial Bakassi Boys are back in Awka. The report sent shivers down the spines of many disgruntled elements.
 Anambra State government has, however, quickly corrected that the report was far from the truth. In a release signed by Mr. C. Don Adinuba, Commissioner for Information & Public Enlightenment, he assured that Anambra State remains the safest state in the country.
To put the record straight, the people innocently confused with Bakassi Boys’ return to the state is a noble effort of some Awka indigenes to fish out cultists in the community who have attempted to capitalize on the inadequate number of policemen on patrol in the town in the last few months to fight themselves with dangerous weapons. The fights among cultists resulted in some casualties.
Awka youth, appalled by the sad development in their peaceful hometown, decided to fish out the cultists from their residences and hideouts. Notably, Security is the chief enemy of mortals. We live in a world that has walls and those walls need to be guarded by men with guns.
 Hence, the amateur video quickly concluded that the outfit was the Bakassi Boys. The hysterical postulation is far from the truth.
However, any person who watches the video to the end would certainly see two vans which belong to the Anambra Vigilante Group right in the scene. No fair-minded person can mistake the Anambra Vigilante Group for the unorthodox security outfit which was outlawed several years ago.
Whereas Bakassi Boys used to arrest suspects, tried them within minutes and executed them in broad daylight in a most savage manner, the AVG is a modern security outfit created by law. It neither tries nor sentences suspects.
A stickler for due process, the AVG cannot tolerate lawlessness. It works in close collaboration with the traditional ruler and President-General of each of the 179 communities in the state but also the Nigeria Police Force. In fact, the AVG chairman is Mr Ikechukwu Aduba, a fantastic gentleman, author and historian who used to be an excellent police commissioner.
The people and Government of Anambra State are proud of the record of security agencies in the state which have substantially overcome the challenges of the last few months.
Ndi Anambra State should go about their normal businesses. Anambra State is peaceful and calm. There is no Bakassi Boys security outfit in Awka or any other part of our beloved state. Understandably, if you reveal your secrets to the wind, you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees.
The existing security agencies are doing their best to protect us. Security is not the absence of danger, but the presence of God, no matter what the danger; for unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman watches in vain.
The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life. And those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. Governor Willie Obiano has shown that Anambra is a no go area for criminals.
WRITTEN BY COMRADE OBI OCHIJE
Comments are closed for this post.