Governor Alex Otti’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma, has expressed concern over the activities of metal thieves who have vandalized and stolen from various government properties.

The affected property, according to the governor’s aide, includes Mission Hill Urban School, where the roofing sheets and iron windows were stolen by scavengers, popularly known as Ndi Akpakara.

Also damaged, according to him, are manholes on the newly built Aguiyi Ironsi Boulevard at Mission Hill in Umuahia “that had their covers removed and stolen in the night by criminals who are desperate to make money at the expense of the development of Abia state and the safety of Abia residents.”

Ekeoma, who lamented that criminal elements have been wreaking havoc in different parts of the state by stealing metal property, said that there had been cases in the past where innocent pedestrians fell into the big gutters covered by water during rain and either got injured or lost their lives because metal thieves opened such manholes to steal the rods used to cast the covers and left them open.

“The present government is working assiduously to rebuild our public schools and get them equipped with the necessary gadgets and materials, and therefore will not allow those driven by such an ungodly quest for money to sabotage the government’s vision and plans to rebuild Abia’s broken infrastructure and ensure that public schools in Abia become conducive citadels of learning for all,” he said.

He warned that the state government has concluded plans to pursue and track down those who partner with or patronise the criminals as accomplices, even as he enjoined the members of the public to report any kind of vandalisation of government facilities and theft of government properties to the relevant government and security agencies for the necessary action.