Abia State Government says it intercepted 26 people hidden in two trucks coming into the state.

Chief Dan Okoli, Abia Commissioner for Homeland Security, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Aba on Thursday.

He said the 26 persons were concealed in two trucks that belonged to a Nigerian multi-industry company.

Okoli said the interception took place at Ariam Community, a boundary town between Akwa-Ibom and Abia, in Ikwuano Local Government Area of the state.

According to him, the 26 people were later moved into another vehicle and sent back to where they were coming from.

He debunked stories making the rounds that Abia boundaries were porous and that people were freely coming in and going out.

Okoli said that it took the painstaking surveillance by security personnel to intercept the 26 persons.

He explained that they were deliberately made to lie flat inside the truck to prevent being seen by security agencies.

The commissioner said that after the trucks had successfully manoeuvred through some checkpoints, security men at Ariam flagged them down for proper checks and discovered the 26 persons hidden inside.

“This morning we caught two Dangote’s Trucks carrying 26 people at Ariam.

“The boundaries are not as free as people make it to appear.

“I don’t want people to panic in Abia,’’ he said.

Okoli said the government would not stop anyone in Abia from doing his business, including those at Lokpanta cattle market as long as the person is within the state.

He said that nobody was exempted from all the safety measures put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus. (NAN)