The Abia State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, has decried the high level of intimidation and extortion of hapless citizens by security agencies in the South-East, particularly at checkpoints across the region.
NUJ made the observation in Umuahia through an 8-point communique signed by Abia NUJ Chairman, Victor Ndukwe and Adaeze Ralph Igbokwe, Secretary, after the monthly congress of the union.
It frowned at the actions of the security agencies and urged the governors of the South-East states to address the situation.
The reaction of the NUJ followed complaints by motorists and passengers plying South-East roads.
The union, which enjoined Abia residents to massively embark on farming during in order to boost local production as a practical measure to curtail the scarcity and astronomical rise in prices of food items, urged the Abia State Government to make farm inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and improved varieties available to farmers at subsidized rates, as well as put strategies in place for uptake of the yields during harvest .
NUJ members commended the NLC in Abia State for joining their counterparts across the country in organizing a peaceful protest against the current hardship in the country and advised the state government to urgently come up with a wage award and other incentives for workers.
While commending Governor Alex Otti for some reforms he introduced in the state civil service, Abia NUJ members appealed to the governor to look into the plight of retirees in the state with a view to resolving their pension issues.
The journalists urged the Abia State Government to immediately re-appraise the civil servants’ verification exercise in the and attend to the cries of workers who are yet to receive salaries since the verification exercise began, even as it called for hastened upward review of Abia workers’ salaries to cushion the effects of economic hardship ravaging the land.
It further urged the Abia State government to be proactive in addressing the level of hardship among the people of the state.
On the commissioning of the Geometric Power Plant in Aba, the NUJ commended the management of the power company for the feat and praised the Abia State government for every assistance it extended to Geometric towards the completion of the project, adding that the project would herald a new dawn of industrialization in Abia and Nigeria in general.