WE NEVER ENGAGED SPIRITUALISTS TO TACKLE INSECUITY— SOLUDO

REPORTER: ONYINYE CHIJIOBI

Anambra State Government says it has not engaged the services of traditional spiritualists to combat insecurity in the area.

The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Chukwumma Soludo, Mr. Christian Abomire, made this known in a statement in Awka.

The statement, which was issued on behalf of the Governor, expressed dismay at the false news making round .

It states that while it is a general knowledge that government alone cannot fight insecurity, it is instructive to note that the story of engaging traditional spiritualists by Anambra State Government to fight insecurity is not true as being peddled by some mischief makers.

The statement explains that the Commissioner of Information, Mr. Paul Nwosu, says that the government has approved the registration of traditional medicine practitioners and to categorize them under Herbalists and Spiritualists with a view to identifying those among them that support and protect criminals.

It notes that the Information Commissioner in his statement to the press categorically states that Government has discovered that some native doctors provide charms with which gunmen operate and it has therefore become necessary to register them as practitioners, categorised into Herbalists and Spiritualists.

The statement further says that while government appreciates the fact that some of them add value to health care, it is also not unaware that some also have helped to imbue these criminals with the dare-devil confidence that has driven them into committing despicable crimes, including kidnapping, extortion of ransom, beheading among others.

The statement adds that after the registration, anyone of them found culpable of such crimes will be easily fished out from the register.

EDITED BY CHUKWUBUIKE MADU