The Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, on Sunday, paid an unscheduled visit to the popular Lokpanta Cattle Market in Umunneochi Local Government Area of the state.


The governor said he stopped by to see the progress that had been made in the building of a perimeter fence around the cattle market.

He stated his administration’s resolve to make the market non-residential to check crimes but promised to protect the cattle dealers doing legitimate business.

The governor had in October last year said there was a need to fence the market and make it non-residential following a security report that 50 decomposing corpses and 20 skeletons were discovered in a bush near the market.According to him, the security report indicated that kidnappers had turned the market into a haven to perpetrate their crimes.

Otti, who was received on Sunday by the leadership of the cattle dealers, said his actions were targeted at criminals, stressing that the legitimate cattle dealers had nothing to fear.

He said,  “The next thing I want to talk about is the issue of residence here. I’m sure that you are aware that the residents will leave here so that this place will be a market. So, the government is making plans to locate where you will live.