BY PATRICK MGBODO
Sorcerers, diviners, and black magic practitioners fleeing neighbouring Anambra State will find no refuge in Asaba, the Delta State capital, as the Asagba of Asaba, HRM Obi (Prof) Epiphany Azinge, SAN, has decreed a firm stance against their activities.
Recall that the Anambra State Government had earlier launched a crackdown on these elements (dibia and Eze-Nwanyi) due to their ties to loathsome criminals, forcing them to flee to neighbouring states, notably Delta.
Addressing journalists, yesterday, HRM Obi Azinge said: ‘’We are not strangers to the developments across the Niger River, especially in Anambra State. The evidence is so clear that most of the people being dislodged there are finding Asaba a haven. This is where we want to be proactive and I believe that the state government will find our efforts supportive. ‘’We note with dismay that there are pointers to the effect that money was exchanged in Asaba, the native doctors and the shrine that harboured the kingpin and of the murders of the Anambra lawmaker. It is not pleasing to our ears that Asaba will become a melting point of this saga. Consequently, we have decided that there are certain things we can do to ensure peace and order in our land.
‘’Firstly, you must have heard that we have banned the activities of Eze-Nwanyi who are of non-Asaba extraction. There are people completely unknown to us hitherto but suddenly they have taken over the land and their activities are considered nefarious. They seem to be supporting kidnappers, fraudsters and others. So, we have banned them. ‘’We have also directed that all the native doctors operating on this soil be registered and regulated. To that extent, they cannot operate unless they have the clearance of the Otu-Ihaza (governing legislative body of Asaba).
‘’We have also tried to moderate the visit to the shrine to the Deity of Asaba (Onishe) because we have noticed that it is being desecrated. Henceforth, nobody visits that shrine without approval from the Otu-Ihaza’’ HRM Obi Azinge said.
Accordingly, the Asaba monarch declared ‘’Operation Know Your Tenant’’, challenging all the landlords in Asaba to have an inventory of all their tenants, stressing that the initiative was to ensure that criminal elements are weeded out. ‘’In the same vein, we are also insisting on a team that will go around the hotels to attack this hydra-headed monster (crime); whether it is kidnapping, yahoo-yahoo, drug peddlers.
‘’We want to stamp out all these from our land. We must support the government of the day but we must be proactive. What is going for Asaba as the state capital is the peace in this land.
‘’So, anything that threatens the peace of this land awakens us to our consciousness that we owe a duty to ensure that our land is not violated by the activities of strangers.
‘’We will pursue this operation (Know Your Tenants) with missionary zeal and all the vigour at our command to ensure that all those (sorcerers) who have crossed over and are residing here will not find Asaba comfortable to live) the monarch said.
