Despite claims to the contrary by Hon. Obi Aguocha, a member of the House of Representatives, some residents of Isuochi and Umuchieze in the Umunneochi Local Government Area of Abia State have spoken out against the persistence of crime in their neighborhoods.
Ikwuano/Umuahia Federal Constituency of Abia State is represented by Aguocha, who also serves as Chairman of the House of Representatives’ ad hoc Committee on Reducing Criminal Activities in Isuikwuato and Umunnochi.
They felt the representative in the House of Representatives should not have made the statement without supporting evidence.
Locals from Umunneochi who spoke to DAILY POST in Umuahia about the issue agreed that those living in the affected communities, including as traditional rulers, farmers, and transporters, would know firsthand if there had been a reduction in criminal activity.
Aguocha’s claim that farming activities have improved in their territories was disputed by locals like Chinecherem Okechukwu and Sylvanus Obika of the Isuochi clan and Mrs Tessy Chidubem of the Umuchieze clan.
They instead reported that many local farmers continued to avoid traveling to their farms out of concern that they might be attacked there.
Umunneochi locals noted that many well-off villagers had not made the trip back for the New Yam, Iriji celebration due to fears of kidnapping.
They said that the offenders have not fled the region as the representative from the House of Representatives had claimed.
Ihube-Leru-Lokpanta Road: Did Obi Aguocha Take It Often? Did he just recently visit the farms and markets along the Ihube-Leru-Isuochi road or make such a sweeping generalization? A farmer named Okechukwu enquired.
Okechukwu, on the other hand, praised Governor Alex Otti’s initiatives to reestablish law and order in the Umunneochi region through the establishment of the Operation Crunch security unit.
If a system of sharing information is kept up between the security agencies and the villagers, he says, the security outfit can win back the trust of the people.
SAREWAHAUSA readers may recall that Aguocha recently claimed that the participation of the House of Representatives ad hoc committee had led to a decrease in criminal activity in the region.
There has been a steady return to farming in Isuikwuato and Umunneochi, according to Aguocha, who also reported that criminal elements have abandoned the area.
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