Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has said governors of the South East are in discussions with the Federal Government over the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
Speaking during his monthly media interaction with journalists on Thursday, Otti disclosed that the region’s governors were making efforts behind the scenes to secure Kanu’s freedom.
Answering questions on the IPOB leader’s fate, he said: ‘The information and assurances are not for public consumption. As his governor, I am in the forefront of ensuring that he comes back. The South East governors are also involved. So, we are discussing’.
The governor, however, noted that beyond the Kanu matter, his administration remains committed to strengthening security across the state, especially as the year draws to a close.
‘We will also continue to support the agencies, supporting the police, the army, the DSS, with little things to make their lives easier. We are also renovating and expanding the prison, not that we are expecting more criminals to be sent there’, he said.
He commended security agencies for maintaining relative peace in Abia, but urged residents to remain vigilant during the ember months.
‘The state has been relatively peaceful. I want to use this opportunity to thank the security agencies, the army, and the officers who have worked and continue to work very hard. But it is never over yet. We have just launched into the ember months. And we all know what goes with ember months. I am using this opportunity to call on all of us to be more security-conscious. To report whatever we see. We should not keep quiet. A large part of the success in security is information. We have our own ways of gathering information. But if you also support what the government is doing with information, it will be very helpful’.
On the challenge of school vandalism, Otti regretted the involvement of some youths and announced new measures.
‘Some Abia youths are involved in the vandalisation of schools in the state. We have concluded plans to recruit four security staff for each school and they will resume duties soon’, he said.
The governor also gave updates on ongoing and upcoming infrastructure projects.
He disclosed that President Bola Tinubu will visit Abia next Friday to inaugurate a number of completed roads in Aba.
‘We are almost set to flag off the reconstruction of the Umuahia–Ikot Ekpene federal road route and that should happen in the next few weeks. And of course, the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic will be here on Friday next week to commission a pack of routes and seven other routes in Aba’, Otti announced.
Responding to protests by host communities over compensation for lands acquired for the Abia Airport project, the governor admitted lapses but assured that the issues were being addressed.
‘I would like to acknowledge that not too long ago I was told that some people from Nsulu protested over non-payment of compensation. I was a bit surprised because I was of the view that everybody had been paid. So I had to dispatch the team that worked on that project for me. By the time they returned, they found out that a few things had happened.
‘One, some of the genuine owners of the lands, their details were omitted and their payments had not been done. The second one was that some of the people who also protested failed to complete their documentation. Because their documentation had not been completed, payment could not be made. There was also an error by the contractor in getting into some spaces that were not originally marked for acquisition. That was the easiest to correct and the contractor has corrected that and issued instructions’.
Otti concluded by highlighting his administration’s achievements in various sectors of the state economy and assured residents that more were underway.
