UMUAHIA— The Abia State government has discovered a covert tunnel in Lokpanta, in the Umunneochi council area of the state, where kidnappers hold their captives.
Men from the Operation Crush security team, who conducted a raid in the region, found the diabolical tunnel, according to Mr. Ferdinand Ekeoma, Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity.
He clarified that when earthmoving machinery from the government was brought to the location, the buried tunnel became visible.
“The criminal cartel was defeated by the superior firepower of the government-backed Operation Crush,” the statement reads. “As the state government, led by Governor Alex Otti, deployed earth-moving equipment to clear the area, the hidden tunnel was discovered.”
“We refuse to give criminals even a single square inch of our territory. Governor Otti directed security agencies to make sure that all criminals, particularly those who kidnap people and cause misery for the people of Umunneochi and other parts of the state, are brought to justice and that their infrastructure and infrastructure supporting criminal activity is destroyed during the formation of the Abia State Joint Security Task Force (Operation Crush).