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Governor Alex Otti of Abia State, on Tuesday expressed fears that the planned nationwide protest billed for August 1 may turn violent, which may consume the poor, weak and vulnerable people in the society.
The Governor expressed the fear during his morning broadcast to Abia people on Tuesday, while admonishing traditional rulers, leaders of religious organizations and other community leaders to advise their people against taking to violence.
Otti, advised Abia youths not to join but engage leaders with their demands, assuring that his administration will do everything to protect the people from harm and destruction.
He admitted that the masses of Nigeria have the inalienable right to peaceful protest especially against bad conditions but expressed concern that any good intentions of the original organizers of the national protest might not be achieved if miscreants hijack the protest.
The Governor revealed that his administration has invested in infrastructure in Aba and Umuahia, stressing that such infrastructure should be protected from being destroyed by those who may want to hijack the protest in the state to cause mayhem.
Otti stated that what Abia needs currently is peace and sustained development and not chaos, adding that some economic policies of the federal government, including the removal of fuel subsidy, may not have yielded the desired results as initially intended by the federal government, but appealed to youths to apply peaceful means during their protest than resorting to violence.
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