The Abia State administration has refuted a story on social media that stated that it owed Nigerian soldiers belonging to its multi-agency security task force, Operation Crush.
The government of Abia State issued a statement under the signature of Kazie Uko, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Alex Otti, denying the validity of the report.
The government of Abia claimed that it had paid its debts to the anti-crime task force in a timely manner, and that this prompt payment to soldiers had been crucial in dealing with violent crime and dislodging kidnapping rings, particularly in the Umunneochi-Uturu-Okigwe area near the Enugu-Umuahia-Aba-Port Harcourt expressway.
Social media report was attributed to “enemies of the state who lost their hold on political power,” according to the Otti-led administration, which then urged the public to dismiss the news because of its debt to the armed forces.
The state administration also said that they have begun paying off the eight years of back pay owing to the judiciary workers in Abia State.
The statement reads in part: “Only two days ago, the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), the umbrella association of judicial workers in Abia State, wrote to thank Governor Otti for living up to his promise to pay the arrears of their Consolidated Judiciary Staff Salary Structure (CONJUSS), which had remained outstanding since 2015.
To Governor Otti and the government of Abia State, “the workers, through their union leader and chairman, Oracle Chinedu Eze, expressed their gratitude for fulfilling the promise of salary payments.”
Mismob Media