SOLDIERS RESCUE FEMALE KIDNAP VICTIM IN ABA

Soldiers serving in 144, Asa under Ohafia 14 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Abia State have recorded another success in their quest to tackle rising crime and insecurity in the state.

The soldiers it was gathered rescued a female victim identified as Mrs. Rita Anaekwe, killed a member of the gang and arrested two others.
Nation gathered that Mrs. Anaekwe, a business woman was abducted in her house on Anaekwe Street, Umuleta village, Obinkwu in Ukwa West Local Government after the gang had access into the woman’s compound through the backyard’s fence that they broke.
They were said to have killed the family’s dog that had confronted them before they have full control of the house even as it was gathered that the woman’s husband was not at home when the incident happened.
The hoodlums it was gathered collected the woman’s jewelries, cash and other valuables and later abducted her to their hideout with the family’s Pathfinder SUV
Soldiers at 144 battalion was said to have been alerted over the development by a family source immediately after the incident, causing them to swing into action on how to rescue the woman.
It was gathered that the hoodlums on sighting the army personnel, engaged them in a shootout but was however overpowered by the soldiers, killing a member of the kidnapping gang and arrested two members of the kidnapping gang.
The woman was said to have been rescued unhurt while police from the Aba Area Command having been alerted of the incident also recovered her vehicle which had since been given back to her.
The Commanding officer of 144 battalion, Lt. Col. Kasim Umar Sidi confirmed the incident and added that they were investigating the matter.
Sidi added that his men were after fleeing members of the gang whom he said would soon be tracked down and arrested.
‪#‎Source‬: The Nation Newspaper

OTTI CONDEMNS ABIA GOVT'S REACTION TO ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ON HIS LIFE

 The Governorship candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in Abia State, yesterday, condemned the reaction of the state government over the assassination attempt on his life.

He described the statement by Governor Ikpeazu as unguarded, unfortunate and suspicious.
Abia government while reacting to the attempt on Otti’s life had said Otti was only trying to whip up sentiments to attract the sympathy of the security agencies and the electoral tribunal to his disastrous petition, adding that “his lamentation is the cry of a drowning man.”
But in a statement by Otti’s Media Assistant, Mr. Jennifer Ben-Okereke, he said Ikpeazu’s quick rush to the media barely 24 hours after the attack and ahead of police investigation was a mere attempt to politicize the fatal incident which claimed the life of a policeman on duty at the guest house.
According to the statement: “The attention of the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in the April general elections in Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, has been drawn to the unwarranted reaction of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to the attack on a private guest house in Abuja, where Otti stays by unknown gunmen in the early hours of Friday.
“His unguarded comments on the unfortunate incident become more worrisome and suspicious, considering that the police authorities have already confirmed the incident to newsmen, while they have also commenced investigation in earnest to uncover the perpetrators of the dastardly act.
“The hasty reaction further raises a fundamental question as to whose interest Ikpeazu was desperate to defend, since Otti in his press briefing on the incident, did not point accusing finger at him or his administration, but strongly wished that the police investigation would help to expose the masterminds of the attack.”

CUT YOUR SECURITY VOTE, IF YOU TRULY LOVE ABIANS

CUT YOUR SECURITY VOTE, IF YOU TRULY LOVE ABIANS - Chief Ukasoanya


Former Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Board of Trustees, BoT, member from Abia State, Chief Tony Ukasoanya, has called on his governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu to cut down his monthly security vote, which he put at “close to N1 billion.”

Ukasoanya said it would have made more impact to Abia State economy if Governor Ikpeazu had slashed his security vote instead of slashing his monthly salary which he said is less then N1 million.
In a statement he issued under the aegis of Concerned Abians for Good Governance, Ukasoanya described Governor Okezie’s public announcement of salary cut as “mere window dressing and sheer deceit,” pointing out that the “not touching the security vote amounts to nothing and cannot effect any changes in the economy of the state.
“The governor should come out clean and clear hereby telling Abians how much his salary and allowances are and how cutting them by half will positively affect the state economy and help in paying the state civil servants’ salaries.
“Unless the governor tells the people what his full package is and what he is cutting into two, the people cannot take him seriously and his actions will amount to nothing, other than window-dressing and deceit.
“We expect the governor to start on a clean slate and avoid the mistakes of last leaders of the state, but we are afraid his actions so far smacks of somebody who does not want to chart a new and transparent course. Instead, what ones sees are the old signs that signal nothing but deceit.
“A situation where one comes out to tell the people that he is cutting his salary and allowances by half without the people knowing the full package and also not touching his monthly security vote which is close to N1 billion is laughable.
“Let the governor tell Abians what his salary cut will translate to without a cut in his security vote. For a man who goes home every month with about N1 billion that is unaudited, of what use is less than N1 million salary cut to him? Abians have learnt their lessons and no leader can take them for a ride again”, the statement said.
The Concerned Abians for Good Governance also urged the governor to “as a matter of urgency, tell the people in specific terms and figures, how much the past administration left and the debt profile of the state.