Otti visits families of slain policemen in Aba

Gov. Alex Otti of Abia has commiserated with the families of the two policemen killed in Aba by yet-to-be-identified gunmen.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that on Friday, four policemen were attacked by hoodlums at Opobo Road in Aba, leading to the death of the two operatives, while two others were wounded.

Speaking with newsmen on Saturday, shortly after visiting the bereaved families as well as the wounded policemen in their hospital beds, Otti described the incident as unfortunate.

He vowed to smoke out the perpetrators of the heinous crime and gave assurance that they would be apprehended.

He expressed dismay that the attack took place a few weeks after five soldiers were shot and killed in Obikabia Junction, Aba.

The governor said that the State Government would change its strategy in dealing with the issue.

He said: “We thought that with all what we have done, including rounding up some of the people that were involved in that last attack, that this would not happen again.

“We have decided to change strategy.

“We are not going to let this go away without identifying and bringing to book all those who were directly or remotely involved.”

Otti expressed the confidence that by the time investigations were over, the State Government would be able to identify the sources of the attacks and address the security threats effectively.

He assured the people that his administration remained focused on rebuilding the state and would not succumb to any form of blackmail.

“We believe that something is wrong and our government is not going to succumb to this kind of blackmail and we are going to fish them out wherever they run to.

“It is still early in the day but as I said, we’ve started picking up some of the people that were suspected to be involved in the last attack on soldiers and this one we are not going to allow it to die.

“We are going to follow it through,” Otti said.

He further said that the government would work with security agencies to unravel the matter as well as secure lives and property in the state.

He urged the residents to go about their lawful businesses, as security agencies would continue to intensify their efforts to ensure that the state remains safe and secured.

“The people know that this government will not rest on its oars.

“We don’t want people to panic, we don’t want people to be discouraged, government is equal to the task,” Otti said.