Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has dismantled the Lokpanta cattle market for harboring criminals.
Macdonald Ubah Rtd, the special adviser to the governor on security matters, stated during a press conference at Government House, Umuahia, that Governor Alex Otti’s administration would make the market a daily market for security reasons and, as a result, issued a seven-day notice for people residing within the market to leave.
Mr Ubah stated that the government’s decision was influenced by studies indicating that the market acted as a meeting place for perpetrators of kidnappings in the area.
He stated that multiple kidnaps have been recorded to take place near the Lokpanta-Umunneochi and Uturu axis of Abia for over a year.
Mr Ubah stated that the rash of kidnappings in Abia grew concerning, and the Otti government began taking steps to reduce or eliminate their occurrence.
He expressed regret that the cattle market leaders and traders had not conducted themselves correctly, allowing criminals to invade and take over the market.
“Every intel we have gotten concerning the kidnap incidents in the state points to the cattle market, as it has been noticed that ransom is paid around the Lokpanta cattle market. About two months ago, we went to the market and delivered a stern warning that the government will not tolerate the market being a safe haven for criminals and criminality.
“They extended the market to the median of the road, which they use to carry out their criminal activities. So the first thing we did was to dismantle the market in the median, and then three weeks ago, we carried out a deliberate action of demolishing brothels numbering over 160 rooms and shanties in the market,” the governor’s aide explained.
Mr Ubah added that “arrests were made and monies in the neighbourhood of millions were recovered and investigations are ongoing.”
According to him, plans were in the works to fence the market and make it a daily market in order to get the market up and running. He asked the public to reject rumors about the expulsion of the Hausa community from the state, claiming that they were the work of miscreants.
Mr Ubah stated that the government told cattle market leaders of their decision to make the market a daily market in a meeting, adding that the notice was too short and they appealed for additional time.
“It is surprising and very embarrassing to the government that they have turned around to say that we have driven them out. This is spurious information and should be disregarded,” Mr Ubah explained. “The position of the government is that the market will no longer be residential because key performance indicators have shown that there has been no kidnap around that axis in the past six weeks since we took all the measures we did.”
He added, “So, it is untrue that we told them to leave, but it is the responsibility of the governor, who is also the chief security officer of the state, to ensure that the state is safe.”
(NAN)
