Luck ran out of one of the suspected masterminds of the kidnap of the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Abia State University, Professor Godwin Emezue, following his arrest at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos while about boarding a flight to Turkey.
This is also as another suspected accomplice in the criminal act was also arrested in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital.
Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, who announced this during his monthly press briefing tagged ” Governor Otti speaks to Abians” said that the duo were returned to the state to face appropriate criminal charges. He disclosed that their arrest was facilitated by “Operation Crush”.
He said that despite the high cost of securing Abia residents and their property, the state security vote would continue to be frugally managed in this regard.
According to him, his political party, the Labour Party is open to intending members, including members of opposition political parties. He likened a political party to a church organisation, where one cannot stop somebody who has come to worship from entering, stating however that the good governance prevailing in the state under his leadership “would not be changed or negatively affected by the entrance of people from the opposition political parties into the Labour Party
Expressing elation that his administration has defrayed all arrears of pensions that dated back to 2014 , involving about 12,500 pensioners, he said that by so doing, over N9b has been injected into the state economy, vowing to ensure regular payment of pensions.
“The economy works with money. If you are in Abia, you will see that those pensioners who would have been begging N500 to N1000 to eat are able to feed themselves today and you recognize the fact that when they spend this money , they spend it in the state.
“So, if you understand the multiplier effect of money ,if you understand that supply can only happen when there is demand and effective demand and that demand is backed up by cash, then you would have understood what we have done. We have returned power to those that own it and that is the people, and I am happy that our pensioners, close to 12,500 of them have been paid.”
