.Residents of cattle market sacked over criminal activities

It has been revealed that out of the 771 autonomous communities in Abia State, 539 have recognised traditional rulers, leaving 232 without.

Also, it was learnt that projects are presently not being undertaken in the 17 councils in the state until the statutorily elected or constituted officials come on board. This is expected soon when transition chairmen and councillors are formally appointed and endorsed by the state Assembly, in accordance with the extant state law on local council administration.

Presently, the councils’ activities are run by their heads of service, who are career public and civil servants, but without powers to execute projects.

Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Commissioner, Uzor Nwachukwu, who made these known on Monday, said that the Governor Alex Otti-led administration insists that local council funds must be managed in accordance with the extant law by statutory authorities.

He added that transition administrations would soon be legally constituted to run the councils, pending when elections would be conducted.

On the traditional rulers’ vacancies in the 232 communities in the state, Nwachukwu said that the vacancies would continue to be filled in accordance with the law, taking cognisance of traditions and customs of the affected communities. He noted that in some cases, vacancies were due to deaths, process of selection and disputes, among others.

On the sacking of residents in the Cattle Market, to make it strictly a daily non-residential, the Security Adviser to the governor, Navy Commander Macdonald Ubah (rtd), said that the development was partly because the market served as an operating base for criminals.

He disclosed that three weeks ago, when a deliberate action was carried out in the market and shanties, a brothel of over 160 rooms was demolished, arrests were made, and millions of naira suspected to have resulted from criminal activities were recovered.

According to him, the government consequently decided that the market should, henceforth, be a daily one without residents, saying that this scenario will allow genuine traders of various ethnic groups to operate freel

He wondered why the government’s laudable decision should amount to selective sacking of a particular ethnic group, as has been alleged in some media reports. The Commissioner noted that most of the cattle dealers in the state are second and third generations of Igbo, many of whom were born and grew in Igbo land.