₦airaland Forum

Business owners are still nursing the numerous losses encountered during the #EndSARS protest as some of them had their properties destroyed and goods looted.

One of such is the magnificent Enyimba Mall Outlet, an edifice located at Ngwa Road by East Aba that was partly destroyed by hoodlums who infiltrated the #EndSARS protesters to unleash mayhem on citizens.

Building materials available in the construction site were also carted away.

Developers of the structure said about 40m to 50m Naira was lost at the heat of the protest.

In a chat with ABN TV in Aba, Mr. Chiedozie Njoku, the Managing Director Checkbest International Ltd, owners of the structure, said despite the obvious setback, his organization is committed to completing the project to make is ready for use by business owners in Aba and environs.

While assuring clients that the investment will soon be put in use, Mr. Njoku dismissed insinuations that the project was a government project.

While underlining that the December target set for the completion of the project will be missed, Mr. Njoku said early March will be the projected new date for project completion, fingering the #EndSARS protest as a reason for delay.

"The project you are seeing here is about 70% completed. Most of, if not all the materials needed for it are already on site. It's just that there are certain things you can't FastTrack. Some things need to take their normal time either to blend or for you to add additional things.

"If I say we can finish this project base on the materials we have on ground, this project could be done in 24 hours," he said.

While assuring that the property is affordable to serious-minded businessmen, he said three power supply options which include national grid, solar, and generator have been put in place to serve its clients.

A suspected child trafficker, Mrs. Ngozi Ukpabi has said she has only stolen 3 babies within 5 months she ventured into the business.

In a confessional statement obtained by ABN TV during her parade at the headquarters of Abia State police command in Umuahia on Tuesday, Mrs. Ukpabi said she was lured into child trafficking by her friend.

According to the suspect, her friend, Rose Okoro introduced her to an unnamed lady in Ugwunagbo local government area of Abia State who works in welfare department and facilitates child adoption for willing clients.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRdNZUetmGo
She said she was ignorant that the children who were given out for adoption by the Ugwunagbo lady are stolen babies.

She said one Uche who is currently at large introduced her to a client, Ekene who needed a baby.

Another child trafficking suspect, Chinonso Sylvanus confessed that he was sent to steal a baby by his senior accomplice Ekene Duru.

According to him, his only option was to make away with the child of a lady who lives in the same street with him in Aba.

He said he had taken the baby under the guise of buying biscuits for him, from where he took the baby to a place known as Tonimas in Aba.

He handed over the baby to his senior accomplice who later handed him over to Mrs. Ngozi Ukpabi. He claimed to be a first time offender.

Parading the suspects, the PPRO Abia command, Godfrey Ogbonna said complaints of missing babies were filed by one Mrs. Happiness Monday and Mrs. Rejoice Ikechukwu both of Umuochiala village in Osisioma local government on August 28, 2020.

Ogbonna said this led to an investigation by men of Rapid Response Squad which led to the arrest of Chinonso Sylvanus, 17, and his senior accomplice Ekene Duru, 31.

He said the suspects will be charged to court upon conclusion of investigation.

Senator representing Abia North, Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu has appealed to the state governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu to handover the State College of Education located in Arochukwu to the federal government, citing poor management.

Kalu, a former governor of the state made this call on Friday shortly after conducting a delegation of the federal government led by the Minister of Power, Engr. Saleh Mamman round a transmission station in Arochukwu.

According to Kalu, Chief Whip of the Senate, the inability of the governor to pay backlog of salaries numbering about 22 months indicates the staff are not well motivated to transfer knowledge that can help in building our public schools.

"The College of Education in Arochukwu, we have been appealing to the governor to hand it over to the federal government. It is his business to hand it over because it's his property.

"Buhari government is a government of law. We cannot seize any state government property without the consent of the state. We are appealing to the governor to surrender and give us consent to take over Arochukwu College of Education and rename it Arochukwu Federal Government College of Education.

"And their salaries, I have a petition. 22 months have not been paid" he said.

He reminded the people that between the period of 1999-2007 when he was the governor, students in public schools in the state enjoyed a tuition-free education.

He lamented that Alvan Ikoku College of Education and other academic institutions in the state have been abandoned due to bad management.

On the transmission station which he started while he was Abia governor, Sen. Kalu commended President Muhammadu Buhari for giving his Ministers charge to go round the country to reactivate and complete abandoned projects across the country.

He expressed optimism that when completed, the project in addition with the road projects which he had facilitated in the area will help in accelerating the economy.

Responding to the call, Abia State government says it's working hard to ensure that the institution continues to run and improve its operations.

In a statement issued by Commissioner for Information, Chief John Okiyi Kalu, he stated that while ensuring that every month the state pays subventions to the institution, he added that the committee reviewing how to settle outstanding salaries in the parastatal will soon submit its report for implementation by the government.

He however wondered why the senator has turned a deaf ear to the issue of bad federal roads in his constituency.

He said this would attract the former governor accolades than debating on handing over the management of Abia State College of Education (Technical) Arochukwu to the Federal Government.

He said, "The call by our former Governor who happens to be the Senator representing Abia North where the institution is located, for the state government to hand over ASCETA to the federal government, is interesting and at the same time revealing.

"One would have expected the Senator to know that state governments don’t just “dump” or hand over state institutions to FGN but instead there are processes to be followed which leads through the National Assembly. If the Senator is aware of this fact, I don’t know but let me inform him that he can approach the federal ministry of education first and then table a draft bill before the National Assembly for passage in that regard. If he succeeds in passing the bill into law, it will hopefully be his first bill and we expect the APC-led federal ministry of education to do the needful.

"In the same vein, I wish to encourage our Senator to also canvass before the National Assembly the issue of bad federal roads in his constituency especially Umuahia-Ohafia-Arochukwu federal road, Umuahia-Bende-Ohafia federal road, erosion menace within the zone, among other issues also requiring focused advocacy and action by our Senator at the federal level. The people of Abia North Senatorial district will certainly appreciate such engagement by their Senator and the place to start the talk is the hollowed chambers of National Assembly".

Suspects who specialise in stealing babies have confessed how they lure their unsuspecting victims with biscuits and eggs.

Ekene Duru from Mbano in Imo state and Chinonso Sylvanus, a native of Obingwa in Abia State said they steal babies from Umuochiala around Ariaria junction in Aba, Abia state and transport them to Port Harcourt where an already waiting female buyer receives them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbmlB6DExjM
In a viral video obtained by ABN TV, Duru said he transports the kids of about two years with a motorcycle or Keke NAPEP to Abia hotel where arrangements are made to move them to where the buyers are.

He confessed he has stolen two male kids and sold them at the cost of N100,000.

He was arrested in Enugu where he was hiding.

His counterpart in crime, Chinonso Sylvanus in his confessional statement said it was Ekene Duru who sent him to go and steal a baby from her mother who was busy attending to customers in her hairdressing salon.

He said he took advantage of his closeness to take the child away.

He confessed to having benefitted N50,000 from the transaction before the bubble bust when men of RRS from Nigeria police arrested him in Owerri.