The Abia State government has refuted claims that it instructed Northern cattle dealers at Lokpanta Market in Umunneochi Local Government Area to relocate to the North.
Earlier reports suggested that traders in the market had appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene and prevent their eviction from Lokpanta market by the Abia State government.
These traders asserted that Governor Alex Otti’s administration had given them a two-week notice to vacate the market.
However, Navy Commander MacDonald Ubah (retd.), the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security, addressed the media in Umuahia and categorically dismissed these claims as baseless and malicious.
Ubah clarified that the government had only implemented a policy to change the operational hours of the cattle market. Instead of being a residential area, it would now operate daily.
He accused those circulating the rumor of distorting the government’s straightforward directive to create confusion and tarnish the reputation of Governor Alex Otti’s administration.
He explained that the governor had never issued an order for Northerners to leave the cattle market but had simply decided that the market would no longer function at night due to security concerns.
The decision was a response to the area’s history as a hotspot for criminal activities.
Ubah elaborated, “Three weeks ago, we took deliberate and measured actions in response to persistent reports of kidnappings in the Uturu-Umunneochi axis. During our operations, we discovered shanty brothels with over 160 rooms. These were identified and demolished, and we confiscated millions of Naira suspected to be proceeds from kidnapping.”
“Criminal elements had turned the median of the Expressway into a parking lot, creating artificial traffic congestion and using the opportunity to alert their fellow gang members about the approach of their victims. We made arrests, and investigations are ongoing. Our plan is to make the market a daily one, like any other market in the state. It is impossible to attract development to an area plagued by kidnapping, armed robbery, and other security issues.”
He noted that the cattle market, once a place for peaceful cattle trade, had transformed into a hub for criminals, rogues, and kidnappers. It had relocated from the Garki area, now the site of the ShopRite, to Ubakala, and then to Okigwe in Imo State.
