The Governor of Abia State, Alex Otti, had promised to compensate families of policemen killed in Aba during Tuesday’s gunmen attack on the convoy of Abia State Commissioner of Trade, Commerce and Investment, Chimezie Ukaegbu.
The state government also promised that innocent traders in Aba who were brutalized by policemen on reprisal attacks, would be compensated.
According to Daily Post, Otti gave the promise in a statement released by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma, where he condemned the gruesome murder of the policemen in Aba, by unidentified gunmen.
He described the attack on the police officers by yet to be identified gunmen as cruel, unjust and highly provocative, stating that the attack should be condemned by all men and women of good conscience.
He further condemned in strong terms, the reprisal attack allegedly carried out by some police officers against some innocent citizens in the city of Aba on Wednesday, describing the conducts of such policemen as lawless and counterproductive, since the victims had not been proven to be directly or indirectly involved in the attack that led to the death of the two police officers.
Otti stated that he immediately got police authorities to withdraw the officers who were brutalizing innocent citizens from the affected areas, saying that the move paved the way for the return of peace and normalcy in the Aba area.
The statement read, “Governor Otti assures that his government would do everything within its powers to ensure that the killers of the Police Officers and their sponsors are brought to justice and that those Police officers who took laws into their hands by brutalizing innocent citizens and destroying people’s properties are also made to face the law. He insists that two wrongs can never make a right.
“Finally, the Governor has also promised to ensure that adequate compensation is paid to the families of the slain Officers and to innocent citizens who were brutalised and their properties destroyed.”
The Abia Governor disclosed that credible intelligence has revealed the possible source of the attack, adding that security forces have already swung into action to route out all forms of criminality in the state.
He, therefore, called on Abians to go about their legitimate businesses without fear, assuring them that his government would continue to place priority on the welfare and security of all Abians.
