By OKONKWO EZE, Onitsha

The Catholic Archbishop of Onitsha Archdiocese and Ecclesiastical Province, His Grace, Most Rev. Dr. Valerian Maduka Okeke, has urged the general public to always feel free to expose kidnappers, armed robbers and other criminal elements in the area by giving useful information that could lead to their arrests. One way of doing this, he said, is by scribbling their piece of information in a paper and dropping it at the newly opened Archdiocesan information box, for onward transmission to the appropriate government authorities, for prompt action.

Archbishop Okeke who spoke at the dedication service of St Alphonsus Catholic Parish, Nkpor, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, advised the masses to shun thuggery, kidnapping, robbery and other criminal activities that are inimical to God and humanity.

Flanked by the Parish Priest, Rev, Fr. Peter Obidi; the chairman of the occasion, Barrister Raphael Asha Nnabuife who is also chairman of Idemili North Local Government Transition Committee; a prominent parishioner from Nkpor community and a gynaecologist attached to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Asaba, Delta State, Dr. Obi Azuka and the immediate past chairman of Umusiome Village, Nkpor, Prince Augustine Udo, Archbishop Okeke wondered why the criminals, majority of who are of Igbo extraction, have subjected their fellow Igbo to ridicule.

According to the cleric, “In the North, there is Boko Haram killing Ndigbo, in the West, there is deportation of Ndigbo and in the South, there is abandoned property of Ndigbo. Here in the East, we are kidnapping ourselves, robbing ourselves and killing ourselves and we don’t want it to continue that way. So, anyone who knows any of these kidnappers, robbers or killers should write a memo to me, send it to our information box and I will take it up from there to the appropriate authority, for prompt action.”

The gynaecologist, Dr. Azukah urged the government to provide employment opportunities for the youths, to minimize criminal activities in the country, since joblessness is the major cause of crime. Prince Udo, the ex-Nkpor village boss expressed satisfaction that God used him to restore relative peace between the neighbouring Nkpor, Ogidi and Umuoji communities which had been enmeshed in communal land squabbles, over the years.