No part of Abia will be left to criminals — Official

The Abia Commissioner for Information and Culture, Mr Okey Kanu, has said that the state government “will not yield any part of Abia State to criminals”.

Kanu said this on Monday, during a press briefing on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting, at the Government House, Umuahia.

He said that the safety of lives and property in the state remained a top priority of the government.

“The present administration will continue to take the security of lives and property in Abia very seriously.

“Also, as the Yuletide season approaches, the state government wishes to assure citizens that it will stop at nothing to ensure that lives and property are protected,” he said.

Kanu also said that as part of the efforts made to tackle insecurity in Abia, the Nigerian Army has launched its operation code named “Udo Ka” in the state.

He said that the operation would focus on ensuring that there would be peace as well as security of lives and property in Abia, particularly during the Christmas season.

“This means in the days and weeks ahead, the security agencies will be very visible around the state.

“We are assuring the people of Abia that the security agents are out there for their own good and security.

“All the government requires from the citizens is to cooperate with them and offer necessary information about security breaches, and movement of suspected criminals in the state,” Kanu said.

On health, he said that going forward, all medical outreaches in Abia must be approved by the Ministry of Health through its Commissioner.

“It is an offence to offer such philanthropic public healthcare without the express approval of the Ministry through the Office of the Commissioner.

“This is to forestall untoward consequences of unregulated medical outreaches that may hurt rather than heal nor help the citizens,” Kanu said.

On Housing, the Commissioner said that the government had evolved a programme known as “Public Buildings Initiative”, specifically for rehabilitation of dilapidated public buildings.

He said that the initiative would be a continuous exercise up until every abandoned public building in Abia wore a new look and became functional.

“We are aware that there are lots of abandoned public buildings around the state.

“There is a deliberate government policy to renovate and retrofit all those buildings and that started with the banquet hall within the Government House premises,” Kanu said.