Chief Whip of the Senate, Orji Kalu has vowed to deploy military forces and bomb on kidnappers in Abia state.
Kalu, who made this vow during his visit to Umunneochi Local Government Area of the state on
He said, “What is happening in Abia is not acceptable to me. We will comb the bush in Umunneochi Local Government Area; we will comb the bush in Ohafia Local Government Area, and we will comb the bush in Arochukwu and Bende Local Government Areas.”
Kalu noted that there is the need for security agencies to destroy camps of criminals operating in the state.
He said, “I am warning everybody, do not allow your children to live in the bush. Anything they (military) see in the bush, they will destroy.”
Kalu, who said the raid would resume in November, did not give further details on the specific time.
He said, “We will come with the Nigerian Airforce. We will come with the Nigerian Army. We will come with everybody.”
Kalu decried the impact of the sit-at-home order in the South-East which is enforced every Monday by the outlawed Indigenous People Biafra.
He said, “We want peace here. We want our businesses to continue. The Igbos are losing N25 billion each day they close their businesses. And they cannot continue. I wish I am still the governor of Abia State, but I am not the governor.”
The lawmaker said he would hold a meeting with Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia next week “to reposition the state and cooperate with the Federal Government of Nigeria.”
Kalu, who noted that he made the move in the interest of the Igbos, said, “President (Muhammadu) Buhari will surprise you people in the next four months. Warn your children to leave the bush, because we will comb the bushes,” the Senator told his constituents.
“Anything we see in the bush, we will kill because we have disturbed the president so much that there is insecurity (in the South-east). The aircraft will come here. It will be a surprise raid. So, people living in the bushes should leave. All parts of Abia, we will comb it,” he added.
Recall that Abia State has come under high criminal abduction and attacks lately, particularly in Umunneochi, with several people, including clerics abducted by gunmen.
In July, gunmen abducted several passengers along the Enugu-Port Harcourt highway between Leru and Ihube Communities of the council area in the state.
The former governor of Abia made the gesture in a video clip posted on his Facebook page following a ward assessment tour of his Abia North Senatorial District.
Kalu expressed optimism that insecurity in the state will end when security agencies comb bushes within the next four months.