In Umuchieze, Umunnochi LGA, Abia State, traders at the Lokpanta cattle market have declared that they are not engaged in kidnappings, ritual killings, or prostitution.
Speaking to a variety of media at the Lokpanta market, the vendors stated that it would be incorrect to conflate legitimate vendors with illicit activity.
They voiced dismay at the widespread media coverage of the corpse finding story and the connection between the murder and the market.
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Malam Buba Abdulahi presented a press statement from the traders, stating that they were unaware of reports of unidentifiable corpses found in the trees surrounding the market.
The traders expressed their willingness to have a dialogue with the Abia State administration to settle the concerns surrounding the state government’s plans to fence off and make the Lokpanta cattle market a daily business area. However, they asked that their requests be granted and that they be given a listening ear.
The traders also expressed dissatisfaction about the possibility that, should the market cease to be a residential area, many of their family members who reside and conduct business in the neighbourhood would find it challenging to manage their businesses from rental properties.
As they have in the past, they gave the Abia State administration their word that they would help uncover any suspected criminal in or around the market.
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Malam Abdulahi continued, saying that they also gave cows to the host community for Christmas celebrations, in addition to paying money to the local, state, and federal governments as well as the host community.
They remembered how the Abia State government had handed them the 80-hectare Lokpanta market land in January 2005, and they said that the late Dr. Chima Nwafor, the state’s deputy governor at the time, had even assisted in the market’s launch.
The Lokpanta shopkeepers recalled how their leaders had petitioned the Nigerian Police and the Department of State Security (DSS) in 2021 to save them from criminal elements torturing them in the market area, while also ordering security authorities to pursue suspected criminals around the region.
Anaedoonline.ng recollects that Governor Alex Otti revealed on Sunday that 70 unidentified bodies and other graphic displays were found by security personnel in the forests surrounding the Lokpanta livestock market.
Abia State Governor Discloses Gruesome Findings in Lokpanta Cattle Market Raid
During the media conference, the governor also revealed that his administration was committed to protecting the entire state from criminal activity, stating that his ambitions for a secure Abia would not be abandoned.
However, the Lokpanta businessmen insisted that the bodies were not discovered inside the market, claiming that Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo made up their membership.
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