Nation
Abia govt goes tough with criminals, sponsors
Abia State Government has re-affirmed its resolve not to allow criminal elements destroy the modest achievements made so far under the administration of governor Alex Otti.
This affirmation is coming on the heels of security reports that the current sporadic gun-battles between security operatives in Abia and criminal elements in parts of Aba and environs, is being sponsored by politicians who lost in the last general elections in the state and who are also not happy with the tremendous achievements being experienced in parts of the state, within one year of the the present regime in Abia .
The Commissioner for Information and Culture, Prince Okey Kanu, who made this known while briefing journalists at the Government House, Umuahia, after this week’s Executive Council meeting presided over by governor Alex Otti, said that the state government has zero tolerance for criminal activities and would not condone it.
He disclosed that armed criminal elements Monday, morning engaged security personnel at Aba in gun-battle.
“Earlier today (Monday) criminal elements engaged the security personnel in a gun fight at Umuode community, along the Port Harcourt -Enugu Express Road and later at Umuojima in Osisioma where they were overwhelmed by the superior firepower of the security forces. In the ensuing gun fight, one of the gunmen was neutralized, while others escaped with varying degrees of gunshot injuries,” he said.
The Commissioner revealed that one of the vehicles belonging to the criminal elements, a Highlander vehicle, was abandoned by the fleeing gunmen and is now under the custody of the security agencies who are now trailing the owner.
He said that reliable intelligence reports showed that the hoodlums were on the prowl to cause mayhem in Abia State as directed them by their sponsors, while urging members of the public to be vigilant if they see strange faces with bullet wounds in their communities .
Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the governor on Security Matters, Navy Commander MacDonald Uba (Rtd.), saud enough had become enough for criminals and their activities in Abia.
His words, “What happened today is a testament to the fact that we have reviewed our strategies. So my assurance is that going forward, it’s going to be a different ball game in the fight to rid our state of all kinds of criminal elements.
“There was no loss on the side of the security agents. The game has changed as it is no longer business as usual. We are on the trail of the fleeing criminals”.
In another development, Kanu dropped the cheering news that in a bid to reposition Abia State in ease of doing business, the state government has inaugurated a council on Ease of Doing Business.
According to him, the governor “took the major step in his bid to reposition Abia state through reforming the state’s business environment to provide optimum services for investors as well as to give them confidence about doing business in Abia state.
“Abia state government has adopted the State’s Business Enabling Reform Action Plan (BERAP) 2024 ,while also approving the 2023 Business Enabling Reform Action Plan BERAP progress report . The council is chaired by the Deputy Governor, Engr Ikechukwu Emetu while the Senior Special Assistant on Ease of Doing Business, Barr Agbonma Ukaobasi will serve as the secretary of the Council”.
The Information boss further disclosed that Abia ranked eight out of 36 states in the federation in Climate Change ranking.
He said the ranking was based on certain indices, including the initiatives put in place towards Climate Change action by the state government; the number of climate tagged projects in the current year’s budget; states that are embarking on serious work of developing climate change polices; online media visibility and participation and quality inputs in national climate change programmes.
On the progress of the just concluded verification and upload of credentials of civil servants in Abia, the commissioner said that progress has been made.
According to him, the exercise revealed that so far, 12,274 workers have signed up to the state’s HR platform. A total of 43,403 academic certificates have so far been uploaded with 29,240 service documents uploaded, an indication of the successful implementation of the exercise.
The Information Commissioner also revealed that the state government has released its second quarter budget performance report which he said is one of the requirements of transparency and good governance.
Contributing, the Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mr. Kingsley Anosike explained that the government has made progress in its budget implementation for the year, which he said, is in the public domain at the government’s website www.abiastate.gov.ng and in line with the commitment of the governor for accountability. He revealed that,
“So far on recurrent, we are at 29.9 percent of full year plan as at the end of June, in terms of capital we have done about 17.3 percent of the plan.
“Over all, we have done a total of 108.9 billion naira in terms of expenditure which is a collaboration of recurrent and capital expenditures”. Mr. Anosike noted.