Report: Small Arms Proliferation, Non-State Actors, Others May Disrupt Anambra Poll

A report by a civil society organisation, CLEEN Foundation, revealed that the proliferation of small arms and light weapons could mar the November governorship election in Anambra State if urgent steps were not taken to mitigate the challenges.

CLEEN Foundation also identified the violent activities of non-state armed groups, such as IPOB/ESN, politically sponsored cult groups and thugs, the rise of state-sponsored armed vigilantes, as well as misinformation campaigns as other plausible factors.

The report identified Ihiala, Ogbaru, Nnewi South, Orumba North, and Onitsha North as high-risk local government areas to monitor during the poll

CLEEN Foundation made the disclosure while officially unveiling the 2025 Anambra Governorship Election Security Threat Assessment (ESTA) on Tuesday in Abuja.

Presenting the report to the public, Director of Programmes at CLEEN Foundation, Dr Salaudeen Hashim, stated that Anambra East, Oyi, NnewiNorth, and Awka North were also mapped as emerging flashpoints.

Hashim said the key security risks in the five high-risk local government areas included IPOB-linked violence, sit-at-home enforcement, attacks on offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), riverine insecurity, arms stockpiling, political thuggery, cultism, forest training camps, political assassinations, vigilante-politician collusion, inadequate police coverage, cult turf wars, and youth gang mobilisation. Hasim itemised key findings of the report as: heightened insecurity in specific local government areas, politicisation of cult and youth gangs, weak security infrastructure, and institutional gaps.

Other concerns, he said, included voter suppression through fear, misinformation, and mobility constraints, community fragmentation, and manipulation of traditional institutions. -Arise News