The Umuahia Butchers Association staged a street demonstration in response to false rumors that the Abia State Government intended to move the abattoir.
The administration denied the veracity of the rumors, branding the demonstration as misguided.
The administration denied the veracity of the rumors, branding the demonstration as misguided.
The butchers staged a protest last Thursday in the state capital over an alleged scheme by the government “to forcefully evict them” from the Mgbarakuma Community abattoir, which is close to Umuahia.
They claimed that the community and Navy Capt. Macdonald Uba, the governor’s special adviser on security, were hatching the conspiracy.
The demonstrators carried signs with messages as they marched through Umuahia’s main thoroughfares and arrived at the Government House.
Some of the inscriptions read: “Save us, our governor”, “Ministry of Lands, Garki land is not for sale, please leave us”, “Abia people, slaughter Garki is not for sale”, among others.
Chief Ngozi Williams, the association’s president, stated in a reporter interview that the Mgbarakuma abattoir has been there since 1994.
Williams claimed that over the previous two years, the host community had made multiple attempts to exclude them from the abattoir.
Additionally, he stated that the governor’s assistant began fencing the slaughterhouse approximately a month ago, stating that the government had sold the facility to him.
He pleaded with the authorities to assist them, claiming that the development had an impact on their enterprises.
However, in response to the demonstration and accusations made by the organization, Eze Ebere Ubani, the community’s traditional leader, asserted that the butchers had not been ordered to leave the slaughterhouse.
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Additionally, according to Ubani, the association was looking for methods to draw attention away from the real problem at hand.
He replied, “As the host community, we have never asked them to leave; all we are asking is that you fulfill your corporate social responsibility to us.”
Additionally, the governor’s security advisor called the butchers’ accusations “spurious.”
According to Uba, the goal of the construction projects in the market is not to drive out the butchers but rather to better the condition of the abattoir.
Upon greeting the demonstrators at Government House, Mr. Ken Nwosu, the Governor’s Chief Security Officer, urged them to maintain calm and abide by the law.
According to Nwosu, the government’s top priority continues to be safeguarding the interests of the people.
