Governor Alex Otti has said that the Abia State Security Trust Fund was launched to raise enough funds to support his crime prevention plans and strategy to continue making Abia safer and secure.
Governor Otti stated this while addressing a delegation of the Igbo Leaders of Thought, led by Elochukwu Amuchiazi, a professor and president of the group, who called on him in his office.
Governor Otti, while responding to issues of security in the South-East region, as raised by the group, noted that a lot of progress had been recorded in the fight against crime across the State, noting that he had taken giant steps towards job creation, instituting conducive business environment among others as a responsive and proactive approach towards achieving a crime free society.
“We kept it until now, because we wanted to, at least, put some things on the ground for people to know that we are serious. Of course, when we came here in 2023, some towns (Umunneochi and Isuikwuato) in the State were actually taken over by bandits.
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“It became a big challenge. We said it would not happen. We fought to reclaim those places. Today, people can easily go home without fear of molestation and attack. But you know how security is.
“If you can create an environment for businesses to thrive, create jobs by encouraging investments, then you will continue to reduce the number of people available for crime and criminality by giving them jobs.
“Most times, you find that people who are recruited into banditry, kidnapping and all sorts of violent crimes are jobless. It is difficult to find somebody who has a fairly good job to also be a criminal at the same time.” Governor Otti stated.
Governor Otti called on Igbo leaders to continue to be bold, speaking out and giving the needed directives to enable the younger people to learn and surpass their achievements.
He said that his administration had remained focused on changing the narratives and restoring the dignity of the Abia people in the past 2 years.
“For us here, we have been focused in the last two years just to recover our State, and restore the dignity of our people.
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“I want to encourage you to continue with what you are doing. You are our leaders. We need to continue to speak out and give direction.
“People may not actually know the direction to go. The leadership you provide is important, Governor Otti stated.
He thanked the group for their relentless efforts in championing the Igbo project and urged them to make their wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise available for the service of the Igbo nation.
Elochukwu Amuchiazi, who said that the group is making a case for an Igbo project where the Igbo man would be integrated into the Nigerian nation and allowed to live and actualise their dreams comfortably.
He said that the visit was to discuss with Governor Otti on what he is doing to protect the Igbo interest and commended his giant strides and welfare-oriented leadership towards a better Abia.
