Anambra State Homeland Security Law 2025, And The Hypocrisy Of Soludo…

By Agba Jalingo

The Anambra State Homeland Security Law 2025, which was recently signed by Governor Charles Soludo, is one legislation that is not only provocative, but can best be described as a piece of non-sense that lacked consultation because their target is obvious.

Charles Soludo is a professor and a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN. With his retinue of academic credentials, he should have reeled beyond his emotions and fanaticism, to discern that what he was signing into law was a piece of nonsense. Such bull-dung should not have been birthed.

Section 18 of the law is the most repugnant

Section 18:

1. Any person who under the practice of “𝑶𝒌𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒆” or “𝑬𝒛𝒆 𝑵𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒊” or under any other guise, administers any substance or charm on or for any other person for the purpose of commission of any offence or for the purpose of accumulation of wealth by supernatural means other than by any known lawful means of livelihood or who publicly propagates the accumulation of such wealth other than by any known lawful means of livelihood, commits and offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of 6 years with an option of fine of 20 million naira or both.

Any person who under the practice of “𝑶𝒌𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒆” or “𝑬𝒛𝒆 𝑵𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒊” or under any other guise, administers any substance or charm on or for any other person for the purpose of commission of any offence or for the purpose of accumulation of wealth by supernatural means other than by any known lawful means of livelihood or who publicly propagates the accumulation of such wealth other than by any known lawful means of livelihood, commits and offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of 6 years with an option of fine of 20 million naira or both.

1. Any person who performs any sacrifice or dumps on any road or thrown into any water body in the state, any charms, substance or items of sacrifice for the purpose of the commission of any offense under subsection 1 of this section, commits and offense and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of 6 years with an option of fine of 20 million Naira or both.
2. Any person who misleads the public by purporting to wield any Supernatural powers which he is found not to possess or who obtains any reward from any person in furtherance thereof, commit an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of 6 years with an option of fine of 20 million naira or both.
3. For the purpose of ascertaining whether or not a person possesses the natural powers under subsection 3 of this section, any such person suspected of misleading the public under subsection 3 of this section shall at the stage of investigation, be subjected to prove that he possesses such powers.

Ok. Let us assume that Mr. Soludo has good intentions. But let us also examine the discrimination inside these provisions by rewriting at least, one of them. Most Anambarians are Christians, so I will use the Christian example.

1. Any person who under the practice of pastor, evangelist, bishop, priest, apostle, or under any other guise, administers any oil, mantle, communion or substance on, or for any other person for the purpose of commission of any offence or for the purpose of accumulation of miracle wealth by supernatural means other than by any known lawful means of livelihood or any preacher who publicly propagates the accumulation of such miracle wealth other than by any known lawful means of livelihood, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of 6 years with an option of fine of 20 million naira or both.

“Any person who under the practice of pastor, evangelist, bishop, priest, apostle, or under any other guise, administers any oil, mantle, communion or substance on, or for any other person for the purpose of commission of any offence or for the purpose of accumulation of miracle wealth by supernatural means other than by any known lawful means of livelihood or any preacher who publicly propagates the accumulation of such miracle wealth other than by any known lawful means of livelihood, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of 6 years with an option of fine of 20 million naira or both.

You can use this same deductive method to rewrite other provisions of section 18, apply them to yourself and your beliefs, and put yourself in the shoes of traditional religious worshippers and their freedom of worship enshrined in our Constitution, then you will realize how offensive and insensitive those who crafted this piece of non-sense are deserving of shame and public opprobrium.

I think it should rather be a criminal offence for politicians to continue to use religious polarization as a tool to hoodwink our people. This sort of blatant insensitivity is both insulting and demeaning, and calls for immediate outcry from well meaning voices in Anambra State and across the country, before it becomes a devious tool to haunt innocent citizens because of their religious beliefs.

Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and Osun States have all declared August 20, as an annual public holiday to celebrate our traditional religions, just like they do for other foreign religions. Efforts are also ongoing to make that day a national holiday across the country, to continue to draw attention to ATRs. It is a sign of backwardness and a constitutional breach to undermine a growing population of our people who still have faith in their ancestral worship.

Those who use charms or whatever means to commit crimes, be they Christians, Muslims or traditional worshippers, should be brought to book with extant laws. But using a blanket legislation to willfully target a section of society, is an aberration.

Yours sincerely,
Citizen Agba Jalingo.