Over 80 dead have been recovered near the Umuchieze Cattle Market in Abia: Governor Otti

 By: News Peddlers 

Alex Otti, governor of Abia state

Abia Governor Alex Otti says Security intelligence revealed that ransoms paid for kidnapped victims were always dropped off outside the Umuchieze Cattle Market in Lokpanta of Umunneochi Local Government Area (LGA).

Mr Otti stated this during the monthly media briefing at Government House in Umuahia that this was discovered after many electronic devices were put throughout the state.

"A few weeks ago, we discovered that a large portion of the ransom paid for kidnapping ended up somewhere around Umunneochi LGA."

"We decided to take control of the situation, and what we discovered was shocking." We collected around 80 dead bodies surrounding the cattle market in less than 48 hours, as well as 20 decapitated bodies rotting remains, including adults and children.

"We recovered uncountable skeletons of people who had been killed and left to decompose still around that axis," he went on to say.

The governor underlined the state government's determination to eradicate Abia of all sorts of crime, stating that "no government succeeds in the face of insecurity."

He stated that the government will neither condone or participate in any way in fostering instability.

Mr Otti further stated that several sorts of crime, including as gun running, prostitution, narcotics trafficking, and excessive drug usage, were prevalent in the cattle market.

He stated that investigations were ongoing to identify those engaged in the crime, and that this impacted the state government's decision to convert the cattle market into a general market.

He stated that the state government had taken steps to secure the market by fencing it and issued a directive that it would be a non-residential daily market open from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Mr Otti stated that, in accordance with government directives, the market would no longer be solely for selling cattle, but would instead function as a general market where other things would be provided.

"Now, some people claimed that we had expelled the Hausa community from Abia, but remember that when we saw the skeletons, we didn't know which skeletons belonged to the Hausa or the Yoruba."

"The spread of the false information led to a northern group issuing a quit notice to Igbo living in the North to leave and come back to the East," he went on to say.

The governor indicated that a discussion with the organisation was held during which the government's intentions were clarified.

"We challenged them that anybody that is not in support of what we are doing must be a criminal, then they saw reason with us and reversed themselves," he went on to say.

(NAN)