The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Abia state, Prof Gregory Ibe has lend his voice to the call for immediate and unconditional release of the Provost of Gregory University Uturu College of Medicine, Prof Uwadinachi Iweha, and former Sun Newspaper Correspondent Mr Chucks Onuoha.
In a formal reaction to news of the recent abduction of the two public figures, Prof Ibe passionately appealed to their assailants to consider the trauma being faced by members of their families and free them on personal recognition.
According to him, “I am really pained by news of the abduction of both Prof Iweha and Chucks Onuoha who are both close to me. I therefore want to passionately appeal to whoever took these very important social workers, who have spent their time serving humanity to please release them unconditionally in consideration of the trauma their family members are passing through right now”.
Decrying the alarming new dimension of insecurity pervading the state which unfortunately involves the violent abduction of social workers from the comfort of their homes, Prof Ibe sued for cessation of such hostilities, describing it as crime against civility and humanity. While condemning in totality the vice of kidnapping, Prof Ibe stated that “the most inhuman and lowest form of the bestial crime is the act of abducting the clergy, health and social workers”, stressing that it attracts eternal damnation from God.
He blamed the current high level of criminality on the quality of training bequeathed to youths and subsequently recommended the reintroduction of moral education in the school curriculum, while enjoining churches to revert to sermons that encourage formation of good character and Christlike virtues.
To counter the ugly trend, he advocated the adoption of community-oriented policing, while deploying the local vigilante system to partner security agencies in fishing out and prosecuting hoodlums.
Prof Ibe promised to adopt and implement policies that will reorientate the mindset of youths while engaging them in fruitful and enterprising ventures thereby making crime unattractive if elected Governor of Abia state in the 2023 general elections.
In his words,” In our manifesto we have outlined strategies to achieve moral rebirth for our youths in order to make them see the unfortunate and tragic end of crime while juxtaposing it with the attractive benefits of decent labour. Leveraging abundant human and natural resources of our state, we plan to refocus and engage young Abians in constructive viable enterprise that will make them run away from criminality.
In the interim, he appealed to the abductors of Prof Iweha, Chucks Onuoha and such other victims to have a change of heart and release them forthwith to avert dire spiritual consequences.