Governor Alex Otti of Abia on Friday announced an increase of the N25 million bounty placed on the killers of five soldiers at Obikabia junction in Aba to N30 million.

Mr Otti made the announcement when the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, paid him a visit in Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of the state.

Gunmen had, on May 30, killed five soldiers at Obikabia junction in Aba.

Mr Otti said the increase in the bounty was necessary by an addition of N5 million by an indigene of the state based in the U.S.A.

“Interestingly, the government has placed a bounty of N25 million and just yesterday, an Abia son, who also comes from Obingwa and lives in the United States, sent us N5 million to upgrade the bounty to N30 million.

“So I am happy to announce that the bounty has just been upgraded to N30 million to encourage anyone that will have useful information that will lead to the apprehension of the criminals,” he said.

Mr Otti further stated that the state government had started working with the security agencies to ensure that such incidents do not happen again.

He said the government had been working around the clock to ensure the state remained safe and secure.

“We also want to thank the intelligence service of the DSS, as they dispatched quite some people here to help us to unravel this case.

“We are very single-minded about it. We must fish them out and ensure that they get the message that this place is a no-go area for terrorists, killers, kidnappers, and other criminals,” the governor said.

(NAN)