ASCETA Under Siege, As Looting Of Property Continues… *Long arm of the law nabs latest culprits

By Our Reporter

The proverbial long arm of the law has finally caught some suspected criminals who took fancy in looting assorted teaching equipment belonging to the Abia State College of Education (Technical) Arochukwu – ASCETA.

For long, the college had literally bled from the looting spree unleashed on it by some never-do-wells, the most recent being on Thursday, February 18, 2021, when some persons almost succeeded in carting away some equipment.

• However, luck ran against them, as vigilant Arochukwu youths on surveillance intercepted a vehicle containing equipment of the College along the Asaga-Amuvi axis, apparently on their way to Umuahia, the State capital.
• The impounded vehicle was thereafter driven to the palace of Eze Aro for safe keeping.
  It was learned that on interrogation, the occupants of the vehicle gave inconsistent stories about its content.
  Curiously, there was no way bill covering the goods, neither was there any letter from the College authorizing the removal of the equipment.

The Police were later invited to the Eze Aro palace to take inventory of the equipment.

1. The police reportedly discovered that the items in the vehicle were equipment donated to ASCETA by the Education Trust Fund (ETF).u

Probed further, the suspects allegedly claimed that they were acting on the instruction a top official of the college, whose identity, at the time of filing this report, was yet to be disclosed.

Students of the institution and indeed all severesidents of Arochukwu kingdom have called for a proper probe into the circumstances surrounding the recent development.

A resident who did not want his name in print, called on Nzuko Aro and other well meaning Abians to petition the office of the Education Trust Fund (ETF) to ascertain the actual contract awarded, the scope of work and the Bill of Quantities. This, he said, will put an end to the saga.
Above all, he recommended punitive measures against established culprits in the looting.