The General Manager of the Abia State Debt Management Office, Kingsley Nwaigburu, has dismissed claims credited to former Commissioner for Finance, Obinna Oriaku, about an alleged ban on Fulani cattle rearers in Umuajuju village, Isiala Ngwa South LGA.
Oriaku had, in a social media post, claimed that some Fulani cattle rearers working for an Abia farmer, Akudo Alozie, were banned from operating in Umuajuju by orders of Governor Otti.
But debunking the report on Friday, the General Manager of the Abia State Debt Management Office, Kingsley Nwaigburu, said Governor Alex Otti should not be dragged into a restriction order issued by three autonomous communities that make up Okpora Ahaba community.
He accused the newly appointed Commissioner in the Federal Character Commission, Obinna Oriaku, of attempting to destabilise Abia with unfounded suggestions that Fulanis had been banned from entering the state.
According to him, the three autonomous communities of Okporo Ahaba, Ike Ahaba, and Isi Ahaba took the decision to protect their farms from being destroyed by cattle—a decision, he explained, that was informed by ugly events of past years.
Nwaigburu said that the enemies of Abia State were trying to drag Governor Alex Otti’s name into a matter decided by the communities, describing the claims as a failed distraction plot.
