N30bn PH-Road Contract: Aba Ngwa People’s Forum Condemns Blackmail Plot Aimed at Abandoning Port Harcourt Road Reconstruction | #NwokeukwuMascot

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The Aba Ngwa People’s Forum held a meeting on December 13th, 2023, to express their disappointment and shock regarding a sponsored rumor circulating on social media. The rumor claims that unidentified individuals from Aba Ngwa demanded money from the government of Abia State as a precondition for the reconstruction of Port Harcourt Road by Julius Berger.

In a statement signed by Comrade Chimezie Nwagba, President, and Architect Chinedu Ahuruonye, Secretary, the forum labeled this ploy as a cheap blackmail attempt to abandon the road project. They expressed disbelief at how a non-existent demand could supposedly halt the reconstruction, which had already been initiated three months prior.

The forum also questioned the lack of information regarding the identities of the individuals allegedly involved in making the demands. They raised concerns about the arrests mentioned on social media, suggesting that the arrested individuals may not even exist. Furthermore, they criticized the government for not refuting these claims and accused them of trying to portray the Ngwa people as anti-development.

The Aba Ngwa People’s Forum statement condemned the alleged blackmail and cursed all those behind it. They demanded that the identities of the purportedly arrested individuals be made public for scrutiny, expressed disappointment in the Abia State government for not refuting the claims and accused them of treating the Ngwa people differently.

The statement reads in full: ” We view this ploy as a cheap blackmail and aimed at abandoning the road using the non-existing demand as an escape route. Laughably, this is one ploy that’s dead on arrival”.

“We wonder how such a non-existing demand, made a few days ago has stopped the reconstruction of the road that was flagged off about three months ago. Isn’t it laughable also that some people are trying to be smart by half, thinking that Abians are fools’?

“We learnt, from the social media without any refute from the government that some arrests were made in connection with the said demands allegedly coming from us, yet up till now, the identities of the so-called Ngwa People who made such obnoxious demands have not been made known to the public. Could it be that those who were allegedly arrested were ghosts’?

“We also wonder why work is still not ongoing on the road even after the purported arrests were made. We are convinced that some people are trying to paint the Ngwa race as an anti-development people just to abandon Port Harcourt Road”.

“Because of the above, we the Aba Ngwa People’s Forum unequivocally state as follows that:

(1) We condemn the cheap blackmail orchestrated against us and curse all those behind it.

(2) We demand that the identities of those who were purportedly arrested be made public for proper scrutiny.

(3) We are disappointed that the Abia State government which is good at refuting many things is unable to refute this unfortunate absurdity simply because the Ngwa are involved.

(4) We ask the government of Abia State to come clean and tell the world what is delaying the reconstruction of Port Harcourt Road, Aba and desist from using us as decoys for unserious or snail-pace projects.

(5) As progressive-minded people, we will continue to support every effort at building and restoring Infrastructure in Aba, and can NEVER be a cog in the wheel of development of Aba, our beautiful land and Abia State in general, knowing that we stand to benefit most when Aba roads are built because we have no other home than Aba.

(6) We therefore call on all the residents of Aba to disregard the sponsored blackmail against our people because we are more eager to see our land fully developed than any other person.

(7) We equally use this medium to unequivocally call on the Abia State government to clear the air that this fake news never happened.”