By Steve Oko

The recent shocking revelation by Governor Alex Otti of Abia State, that over 50 decomposing and 20 headless bodies were found around Umuchieze Regional Cattle Market, in Umunneochi Local Government Area of the state, has once again brought to the fore, the precarious security situation in that region.

Umunneochi/Isuikwuato/Uturu axis, of Abia State has in recent years, become the epicenter of insecurity in the state following a series of kidnappings and banditry that have made the area a danger zone. The region extending to the neighbouring Okigwe in Imo State, Awgu in Enugu State and Isiagu in Ebonyi State, has become notorious for violent crimes, especially abduction for ransom.

Former Prelate of the Methodist Church His Eminence Samuel Uche and other clerics on his entourage were abducted around the area. They only regained their freedom after a ransom of a whopping N100 million was paid. The Prelate had in a press conference, shortly afterwards, alleged that his abductors were Fulani bandits.

Several other people were kidnapped in the area and some released after ransoms were paid. Some victims were so unlucky that they never returned alive, while some are yet to be sighted even after ransoms were paid.

Traveling on the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway that passed through the area, has since become a nightmare. There were instances where vehicles plying the highway were ambushed and the entire occupants were abducted by bandits and marched inside the bush in broad daylight.

Besides kidnapping for ransom, there were also incidents of violent attacks and rape by bandits. At a point, Isuochi communities almost became deserted as the bandits had their field day. The security operatives could not save the situation as they themselves were also victims. A Divisional Crime Officer, DCO, in Umunneochi was once abducted by the bandits, and not much has been heard about him for over a year now. Appeals for Government intervention fell on deaf ears as the people were abandoned to their fate. 

 The menace got so crazy and abnormal that a hearse conveying a corpse from Delta to Isuikwuato was intercepted around the area near Ihube, and the occupants of the vehicle including the driver abducted, leaving only the corpse on the highway.

This precarious situation led to several protests by the youths of Umunneochi who demanded immediate removal of the cattle market from their environment. They alleged that the market had rather brought woes and sorrows to the people.

They even accused the security operatives in some of the checkpoints of complicity, and being soft on the perpetrators.

They alleged that the market provided cover for the criminals and bandits behind the atrocities in the region. They equally alleged that illicit drug business, prostitution and other criminal activities also thrived in the market while authorities looked away.

Despite multiple security checkpoints on the roads around the region, insecurity did not abate until recently after Gov. Otti came on board and launched Operation Crush. The new security operation seems to be recording some appreciable success in the fight against insecurity as there has been a significant reduction in the rate of kidnappings and attacks by bandits in the area.

The  Commanding Officer in charge of 143 Rangers Battalion Ovim, Isuikwuato, Lt. Col. A Adebayo,  attested to this last week during a town hall meeting organised by the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Insecurity in Isuikwuato/ Umunneochi federal constituency. He gave kudos to Gov. Otti, who he said, had provided the needed logistic support for  Operation Crush, adding that since then, the menace has abated.

The Governor’s Security Adviser also said that since the launch of Operation Crush and the demolition of brothels that hitherto haboured criminals in the market, there had been no single incidence of kidnapping on the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway traversing the area.

However, there are concerns that certain forces do not seem to be comfortable with the current efforts of the Government against insecurity in the state. What is, however, not clear, is the identity and interest of these forces.

The signs first emerged after the State Government directed the people residing inside the cattle market to quit and operate from outside. In a swift response, there was a press conference in Kaduna, where a Northern group accused the Governor of an attempt to quit Northerners in the state. The group threatened that if the purported quit notice were not rescinded immediately, Ndigbo living in the North should prepare to leave.

But the Security Adviser to the Governor, Navy Commander MacDonald Ubah (retd.), quickly cleared the air. He said that the Governor was misconstrued by mischief makers bent on discrediting him for political gains. He explained that at no time was any Northern asked to quit the market. The position of the State Government, he stressed, was that nobody should again be allowed to live inside the market. He argued that traders in other markets including Alaba International Market Lagos, Sabo Gari, Kano, Oshodi, Ibadan, Maiduguri Main Market, etc do not live inside the market, wondering why Abia cattle market would be an exception.

The Security Adviser in the company of some Government officials, later had an audience with the traders where he explained the Government’s position, and urged them to disregard the misinterpretation and support the Government’s move. However, the traders at the meeting told the Government to jettison the idea of evicting residents from the market. They accused the Government of not carrying them along in its policies.

They demanded that the Government should build a housing estate for them if it insisted on evicting residents from the market.

The governor’s discovery

As the quagmire lingered, the Governor’s revelation of a valley of decomposing bodies and skeletons, seemed to have stirred the waters. The Northern Community sharply disagreed with the Governor, challenging him to show pictorial or video evidence of the decomposing bodies.

Recall that Otti, during the second edition of his monthly media parley on Sunday, October 29,  said that his administration had deployed technology in the fight against insecurity. According to him, the state is now under electronic surveillance for crime detection. 

“We have installed electronic equipment that tells us what is happening in every part of the state. A few weeks ago, we found that a lot of ransom that was paid for kidnapping ended up somewhere around Umunneochi.

“In less than 48 hours, we recovered over 50 dead bodies around the cattle market in Umunneochi. We recovered over 20 decomposing headless bodies – men, women, children! We recovered so many skeletons of people killed!

“We also discovered that gun running, prostitution and so many things were happening in the market. So, we realised that the first thing to be done is to secure the market. We went in and brought down many brothels, and we felt that the market, just like any other market, should be a day market that starts in the morning and closes in the evening.”

 Governor Otti regretted that the vicinity of the cattle market had become a den of criminals where all manner of atrocities were committed. 

He vowed to stop the insanity and restore security in the region as well as the entire state no matter the cost. Otti said there was no going back on the decision of the State Government to evict all residents of the market and convert it to a day market “that closes in the evening and everybody goes home”. He also vowed to convert the market to a general-purpose market and fence it around to tighten security around it.

Otti said that no inch of Abia State would be allowed to serve as a breeding ground for criminals, adding that anybody still opposed to the Government’s efforts to sanitise the cattle market must either be a criminal or an accomplice.

“We have started fencing the market even though it will cost a lot of fortunes. We also want to make it a general market not just for cattle alone. There will be sections for provisions, foodstuffs, electronics and others.

“We feel that those people hibernating in the market should go and live in the communities. We want to have a peaceful Christmas where our people will come home and have peaceful movement both around Umunneochi and other parts of the state. Anybody not supporting this move must be a criminal, and there is no place for criminals anymore in Abia”.

But in a swift response on Wednesday,  the  Northern community in a press conference,  countered the Governor’s claims, accusing him of resorting to blackmail to justify the proposed eviction of residents from the cattle market, and its conversion to a day market.

The Spokesman of the Northern Community,  Malam Buba Abdulahi, flanked by other stakeholders, voiced strong opposition to the move by the Abia State Government to fence the Cattle Market, claiming that doing so amounts to chasing them out of the state.

They distanced the Northern community from atrocities by criminals around the market, claiming that Northerners were not “accomplices but also victims” of criminalities in the area. They said they had assisted in identifying and destroying hideous of criminals in the vicinity.

Absolving themselves of any involvement in the insecurity in the area, they said that “all the brothels, beer palours, night clubs and lodging accommodations recently demolished by the State Government, belonged to the natives and members of the host community”.

According to them, evicting residents from the market and asking them to live in neighbouring communities or cities would expose them to attacks by criminals.

“ If Government will fence the market… and ask us to live in the neighbouring villages, it means the Government has automatically chase (sic) us away from Abia State”.

The written position of the Northern community was jointly signed by the Chairman of the Cattle market, Alhaji Saleh Algare; Secretary General, Auwal Hamma;  Sarki Hausa, HRH Alhaji Yaro Danladi, Buba Kedemure,  among others.

They further claimed that Abia State Government in 2005, during the administration of Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, duly allocated 80 hectares of land at Umuchieze to the Northern community as cattle market, arguing that it would be unfair to displace them from the land which “we have occupied since 2005”.

“ Every Nigerian has the right to stay in any part of the country. Abia State Government through the then Deputy Governor, the late Dr Chima Nwafor, flagged off Umuchieze cattle market which was duly allocated to the Northerns at its present location at Umuchieze. The land is about 80 hectares on the right side along Enugu Port Harcourt Expressway.

“The allocation of land to the Northerners was not predicted on any condition save for the Northern community to maximally utilise it for the purpose of cattle trading and other allied business transactions, residential quarters, and a motor park”.

Therefore, some pertinent questions begging for answer include: Why is the Northern community opposed to fencing the market? How correct are they to claim that Government’s directive for residents to vacate the cattle market amounts to pursuing Northerners out of the state? How safe and conventional is it for traders to live inside market? Should the revelation by the Governor who is the Chief Security Officer of the state become an issue for debate?

The Governor’s Security Adviser told Saturday Vanguard in an exclusive interview that the Governor should not be doubted because many people do not have access to the volume of information available to him. He said that those doubting the authenticity of the information were doing so out of ignorance, wondering what would be in the interest of the Governor to make a bogus claim as some are trying to impute.

He, however, said that the Governor would not be joining issues with anybody, adding that there is no going back on the decision to fence the market as part of the necessary measures to beef up security in the area.

It was observed that while fielding questions from newsmen, the Northern community admitted that when the cattle market was in Umuahia and Okigwe respectively, they lived inside the town among other residents. They cited the remoteness of Umuchieze cattle market as their reason for opting to reside inside the market.

The Northern community which claimed that they were about 15,000,   demanded a housing estate in the vicinity to accommodate them. They equally demanded the siting of banks in the cattle market to prevent movement of cash which exposes them to attacks by criminals.

“ Considering the high rate of crimes in Umunneochi today, it will be a tactical mistake for us to relocate to various communities in Umuchieze. We passionately appeal to His Excellency to allow us to live in the cattle market”.

On the request by the Northern community for a housing estate, Commander Ubah said that the Governor had already promised to pay rent for the vulnerable ones among them anywhere they find accommodation. He, however, said they were not being fair to demand that Government should build houses for them especially in view of the numerous challenges before the Government.

The market

Meanwhile, stakeholders at the recent town hall meeting by the House of Reps Ad-hoc Committee on Insecurity in the federal constituency, were vehement, in demanding the relocation of the cattle market, blaming it for the insecurity in the region. 

According to them, the cattle market not only habours criminals but also serves as a centre for distribution of hard drugs, immorality and other heinous crimes. They strongly supported the planned eviction of those residing inside the market, insisting that it should be fenced and converted to only day market.

A woman leader in Umuchime, Mrs Ijeoma Adim, lamented that cows had destroyed the only source of drinking water in the community, and called on Government to sink water boreholes for the locals. She alleged that their farmlands had been destroyed by cattle, and called for an end to open grazing in the area.

Methodist Bishop of Umunneochi Diocese, Bishop IK Tasie, decried the activities of bandits and kidnappers in the area, saying that the religious lives of the people had been badly affected, as locals now live in fear.

The stakeholders suggested the erection of security towers at strategic locations on the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, the installation of security cameras and the use of drones for surveillance. They tasked security agencies and traders in the cattle market to support the on-going efforts of the State Government to restore security in the area.

According to a Public Affairs Analyst and Radio commentator, Hon. Chinedu Obilor (a k.a Iyierioba), anybody opposing the Governor’s efforts is a suspect.

Irrespective of the divergent views, it cannot be controverted that the Otti-led administration, unlike previous Governments, has demonstrated commitment towards curbing the menacing insecurity in the state.

Vanguard News