Blame Gov. Otti for insecurity in Abia

By Don Norman Obinna (Agu Ibeku)

The espousal of buck-passing by the Abia State government in tackling menacing security challenges in the state evidences cluelessness and insensitivity.

Forget its incessant hope-offering press releases and garrulousness. The government is hopelessly bewildered and has no intelligence-gathering mechanism in place to arrest the situation.

Monday’s press release in which the government, as usual, talked tough, issued threats to lawbreakers, and vowed to fish out perpetrators of criminalities in Abia State and bring them to justice should not make us passive.

The governor who urges us to go about our businesses without fear goes with an uncountable number of policemen, DSS officials, armoured tanks and bullet proof SUVs.

Like the previous ones, the present release (that proffers a cornucopia of boastings and empty assurances of safety) is a mere window dressing that will not produce results.

On May 30, 2024, when unknown gunmen attacked and killed five soldiers at Obikabia junction in Aba and burnt their patrol van, the Abia State Government vowed to fish out the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

To date, nobody has been brought to book. The last we heard of the matter was the presentation of cheques to the victims’ families.

Before the dust settled, there was another attack on security personnel at Osisioma. It was the same threadbare cliche the Abia State Government told us.

Aside from these and several other heinous crimes, some police officers in the state had been attacked and killed, with the criminals still merrying about.

Just a few months ago, Chief Ahuchaogu was kidnapped in Ubakala, Umuahia, and his driver and police orderly were killed. The perpetrators of the dastardly act are still moving freely and targeting their next victim.

If the government’s incessant boasts and claims of being on top of the situation were effective, hoodlums would not have the effort to attack a recently mounted military checkpoint in Umuahia and kill three military officers.

The fact that they operated unhindered for approximately 30 minutes and even carted away ammunition made a mockery of the Abia State Government rodomontade.

If the criminals had killed Ginger Onwusibe, the empty press release accusing the opposition of insecurity in the state would have been the government’s only effort to address the issue.

As it stands, the chapter of the police officer who lost his life in the attack has closed. The governor will visit and snap pictures with the bereaved widow and, as usual, promise to fish out the criminals and bring them to book.

It is high time the Abia State Government jettisoned the shameful buck-passing and began advising itself. It is liable for the recent upsurge in crime in Abia State.

Under the watch of Governor Alex Otti, Abia State recorded the highest unemployment rate ever witnessed in its history — 18.7 percent – because of the insensitive sack of more than 20,000 civil servants.

The number is expected to rise with the plan underway to downsize 40 percent of the Abia State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (ASOPADEC) workforce.

We can continue to deceive ourselves by continuing to project Abia State as an Eldorado on social media, but the truth is that there is hunger and extreme poverty in the land.

The scowls on people’s faces and the rising disenchantment are proofs.

We will be living in a fool’s paradise not to expect an upsurge in crime rate in a state where the governor deliberately weaponised hunger by withholding cashflow and sacking workers arbitrarily.

Governor Otti is in charge of motor parks and revenue collections in the state. He is the LG chairman, councilors, head of service, judiciary, the Abia State House of Assembly, and traditional ruler.

He is the Alfa and Omega whose words and decisions are irreversible.

How can one rule out crime under an elitist government that aggravates the predicaments of the poor? Crime is inevitable in a society like ours where the governor intentionally heaped unbearable hardship and misery upon the people.

How many of those keke drivers, pensioners, and civil servants who celebrated the victory of Alex Otti like the second coming of Jesus Christ are still doing so today? The answer will help us to solve the menacing crime rate in Abia State.