Organisation Moves Against Kidnapping In Abia

A new group has emerged in Abia State with the  vision of tackling kidnapping and other crimes in the state through youth development and empowerment programmes.

The group, Change Abia Organisation, a non-governmental organisation, intends to embark on a comprehensive development and empowerment of millions of Abia youths through establishment of skills acquisition centres across the 17 local government areas of the state to impart different skills to the youths, establishment of a football academy for training and identification of talented footballers, who would be exposed to local and international clubs. It also intends to identify and empower those with skills but without the resources to establish on their own.

Already, registration of interested youths are in progress across the state while the initiators and promoters of the programme are currently engaged in high level consultations with major stakeholders both in Nigeria and abroad, preparatory to the formal take-off of the  project next month. The scope of the programme ranges from talent hunting in football to all facets of skills acquisition and assisting beneficiaries to set up on their own.

Change Abia Organisation, which is partnering with the Special Adviser to the President and Ambassador Plenipotentiary, John Fashanu, on its mission to constructively engage Abia youths, disclosed that N100 million has been set aside for the take off of the project which primary focus would be to rehabilitate repentant militants and kidnappers.

Abia has been in the throes of violent crimes, particularly kidnapping. This made the government to provide huge logistics support for the Police and other security operatives to launch a ferocious onslaught against the criminal elements with a view to flushing them out from the state.

But the founder of Change Abia Organisation, Ochiagha Regan Ufomba, said his initiative is to give the war against criminals in the state a human face.

At a joint press briefing with Fashanu in his Umuogele Ntigha country home in Isiala Ngwa North local government area, Thursday, Ufomba said of his mission and vision: “This vision is different from what is obtainable now because the popular belief is that to end this kidnapping and other vices, we must spend a lot of resources procuring arms and ammunitions such as AK 47 to kill everybody (the criminals); that it is a war that must be fought with bows and arrows, guns and machine guns.

“We said no; we can introduce human face to this war and we are firmly of the belief that to win this war and make it long lasting, we must empower them (youths). We believe that to win this war, it must not be fought through the barrel of the gun or even on empty stomach.”

Ufomba, a former Special Adviser to former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu on Grassroots Mobilisation, explained that dedicated telephone numbers would be published through which repentant militants could contact those that would be constituted as negotiators who would discuss available rehabilitation packages for those in that category. “We want to give hope and direction to the youths,” he said.

The essence of the negotiation, he explained is to discover why the militants are aggrieved and proffer solutions to such problems. He attributed high crime rate in the country to crumbling of discipline in the society, lack of employment opportunities which has engendered desperation and hopelessness. He appealed to all to join hands and make the programme of securing the Abia environment to succeed.

On his part, Fashanu said he was passionate about the programme because it was unique from others he has been involved in, stressing that apart from other roles he may play, he would be more interested in ensuring that those discovered to be good footballers were exposed to foreign clubs.

“One of my ideas is to screen these boys from the grassroots and take them to the federal level. What we are trying to achieve is where the best footballers go abroad for greener pastures while the ones not so good are absorbed by Nigerian football clubs. We must discover another Ronaldo here,” Fashanu said.