Following the revelation that 50 decomposing corpses and 20 headless bodies including several skeletons of human beings were recently found around the vicinity of the Lokpanta Cattle Market in Umunneochi LGA of Abia State, traders in the market comprising the Hausa/Fulani Community, Yoruba Community and their Igbo counterparts have denies knowledge of such incident.
Malam Buba Abdullahi, the spokesman for the traders who spoke to newsmen on their behalf said they were not aware of any such incident.
On government’s decision to make the cattle market, the traders called on the state government to engage them in dialogue over its decision to convert the market to a nonresidential daily market, saying that a dialogue between them the state government will create more awareness on both sides and possible resolve the imbroglio.
It will be recalled that Abia State government’s decision to fence the market and make it a nonresidential daily market is sequel to the allegation that the place has been infiltrated by criminal elements that use the demolished brothels there as hideouts for criminal activities such as kidnapping for ransom, armed robbery and ritual murder.
On Sunday while briefing the media, Governor Alex Otti of Abia State revealed that over 50 decomposing corpses, 20 headless and several skeletons of human beings were recently found around the vicinity of the market, adding that before now the place has become rendezvous for high profile kidnapping.
However, on Wednesday, the traders in the market said they were not aware of such incident, arguing that “decomposed bodies, headless and many skeletons were neither found in the market nor around the market”.
Addressing journalists during a press briefing at the market, Buba Abdullahi maintained that dialogue remains a major way out of the imbroglio and that it will help to trash out some of teething problems that need to be addressed in the market.
“Gentlemen of the press, we want to use this opportunity to inform you that on 11th January 2005, the Abia State government through the then Deputy Governor, late Dr Chima Nwafor flagged off the Umuchieze a.k.a. Lokpanta Cattle Market which was duly allocated to the northerners at its present location at Umuchieze. The land is about 80 hectares.
“The allocation of the land to the Northern Community was not predicated on any condition, save for the Northern Community to maximally utilize it for the purpose of cattle trading and other allied business transaction, residential and motor park.
“Following that, the northern community has consistently paid revenue to the local and state governments respectively and part of it goes to the host community as the people that donated the land where the cattle market is situated. In addition to the monies, the northern communities also donate cows to their host communities during Christmas”, Abdullahi who declared.
He likened the policy by the state government of making the market a nonresidential as an attempt to “chase northerners out of Abia State”, saying that it is a misconception to claim that the northern community harbours criminals and kidnappers there.
According to Abdullahi, the leadership of the market had in 2021 written to the Department of State Security (DSS) and the Nigeria Police, asking the two security agencies to rescue them from the hands of criminals who, according to them, had taken over the area, saying that in response to the distress call, the then Commissioner of Police deployed a team of policemen attached to antiterrorist unit to the market.
In an answer to a question, Abdullahi agreed that the government has good intentions in trying to fence the market, but stated it should consider the interest of the traders in the market in whatever it is doing to safeguard them.
According to him, “Let us state categorically at this point that in the past, leaders of our community have supported the security agencies in identifying criminal hideouts close to the market and demolition was carried out by the state government under the supervision of former Commissioner of Police, Janet Agbade”, he disclosed.
He informed that they, the traders in the market are also victims of crimes and criminalities occurring the within the vicinity on regular basis.
In his own comment, the leader of Igbo Community in the market, Chief Tochukwu Ukairo, called for a better approach to the imbroglio since according to him, livestock business is not like other businesses.
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