In a decisive move to enforce the newly enacted Anambra State Homeland Security Law, Anambra state government has officially taken possession of the expansive premises belonging to the convicted native doctor, Chidozie Nwangwu, popularly known as Akwa Okuko Tiwara Aki.
Earlier, operatives of the state’s specialized security outfit, Agunechemba, stormed the compound in Oba, Idemili South Local Government Area, an operation that saw the total destruction of his main shrine and the burning of various ritual items, including the controversial “Oke Ite” which the government maintains was used to fortify criminal elements.
The action followed the recent High Court judgment in Awka, where Nwangwu pleaded guilty to charges bordering on conspiracy to commit kidnapping against him.
Under the Agunechemba Law (Anambra Homeland Security Law), the state is empowered to seize and forfeit any property used to facilitate kidnapping or ritual-based crimes, destroy structures or items identified as instruments of “fetish criminality” that threaten public peace, take over land and assets belonging to individuals convicted of providing spiritual cover for gunmen.
Speaking to journalists at the site of the demolition, the Special Adviser to Governor Chukwuma Soludo on Community Security, Mr. Ken Emeakayi emphasized the government’s “zero-tolerance” policy, stating that the action is not an attack on tradition, but a surgical operation against criminality disguised as religion
