As the hunger protest continues across the country, the Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has thanked Abia residents for heeding his plea not to join the protests going on in some parts of the country, which have resulted in the loss of lives and the destruction of properties.
Otti expressed this gratitude to Abians on Saturday at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Aba, stating, “I want to use this opportunity to thank you and Abia people who listened to my plea not to come out to the roads and disrupt services and activities and probably visit mayhem on the people.
“The reason is not because things are not difficult; far from it. I recognise how difficult things are today, but at the same time, there is a saying that two wrongs cannot make a right. I also do know that a lot of our people live by the day; some are traders, some are Keke riders, some are barbers, and some are taxi drivers. These people put food on the table based on what they earn that particular day.”
“Disrupting the activities of those whose delay bread depends on going out daily in the name of protest will end up worsening the problem the protesters are trying to solve.
“My plea was that we can always sit down to discuss. And I want to thank the Abia people for heeding that call. It does not mean that we don’t have the right to protest, but there are different ways of protesting.
“And I think that the authorities had even listened to you and heard what you said. It is easy to hear what you are saying, but I can assure you that our government has heard what you did not say.”
Otti thanked the church for its support since 2015 when he stepped out to contest the election and for the support they are giving his administration, and he urged them to continue to remember him and the state government in their prayers.
In a sermon titled “Living out the Christian Slogan,” the Resident Pastor, Pastor Ifeanyichukwu Nwaoguikpe, said that God brought everyone to this earth for a particular purpose or mission, warning the world against the impending doom while encouraging people to extend helping hands to those in need.
Recall that Governor Otti had, on two occasions within the week, appealed to Abians not to join the protest. first was when he received Peter Obi, the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election, after a private breakfast meeting and the second was through a state broadcast he made a day before the protest.
On both occasions, he acknowledged the people’s right to peaceful protest to air their grievances and, at the same time, expressed his worry that the protest may be hijacked by hoodlums.
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