The Governor of Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti has described as cruel, unjust, and highly provocative the killing at Aba on Tuesday of two policemen by unidentified gunmen.
In a press statement released by the government of Abia State on Wednesday, the Governor also condemned in strong terms the reprisal attack allegedly carried out by some police officers against innocent citizens in the city of Aba.
The statement reads in part:
“government views the attack on the innocent police officers by yet to be identified gunmen as cruel, unjust and highly provocative and should be condemned by all men and women of good conscience.
“In the same vain, the Governor has condemned in strong terms the reprisal attack allegedly carried out by some police officers against some innocent citizens in the city of Aba earlier today, describing it as lawless and counterproductive, since such victims have not been proven to be directly or indirectly involved in the attack that led to the death of those two Police Officers.
“The Governor on getting to know about today’s reprisal attacks immediately got the Police authorities to withdraw the Officers from the affected areas which paved the way for the return of peace and normalcy in the area. Governor Otti assures that his government would do everything within its powers to ensure that the killers of the Police Officers and their sponsors are brought to justice and that those Police Officers who took laws into their hands by brutalizing innocent citizens and destroying people’s properties are also made to face the law. He insists that two wrongs can never make a right.”
According to the statement, the Governor has made a commitment towards ensuring that adequate compensation was paid to the families of the slain officers, and to the innocent citizens who were brutalised and their property destroyed.