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Tuesday, 13 November 2012

Imo Governor's Aides Assault Local Govt Chairmen..... Police Nabs Thugs.... Imo Is Governed by an Emperor- PDP.... Govt keeps Mum

 



The ongoing scramble for the soul of the local Governments in Imo State assumed a dangerous dimension Tuesday when thugs suspected to have been hired by aides of Governor Rochas Okorocha were apprehended by men of the Nigeria Police Force, Owerri Division.
 In Owerri Municipal Council, an eye witness said the thugs who had come in company of two serving commissioners the previous day and whisked away the Secretary of the Council, Felix Nnodum, returned again to terrorize workers and staffers of the Council. They were said to have shot gunshots in the air causing a stampede which forced visitors and staffers of the council to run for dear life.
Their nefarious activities which caused uproar led to the prompt intervention of Soldiers of the 34 field Artillery Brigade, Obinze, who stormed the council and dispossessed the thugs of their weapons and arrested them.  The soldiers took the thugs to the State Police Command, Owerri where they were interrogated. An eye witness at the State Police Command said men of the Force openly tortured the thugs in the premises of the Force headquarters.
The same situation was said to have taken place at Orlu Local Government Council headquarters where thugs who had invaded the council were arrested by soldiers and taken to the police headquarters in Owerri.
EMELE.... Imo Algon Chairperson
It will be recalled that yesterday ( 12th November, 2012), top officials of the Rochas Okorocha Administration had invaded some local Government Councils in the State with armed thugs and harassed the Council Chairmen. In areas where the Council Chairmen were not sighted, councillors were apprehended and beaten up.
 A Councillor was beaten to coma, though he recovered the next day and narrated his painful ordeal to this newspaper.
 An eyewitness said the assault at Orlu LGA was led by Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Ichie Uche Best Mbanaso and his Local Government Affairs counterpart, Jerry Okolie.
 At Owerri North LGA, the story was the same as the Council Chairman, Eric Ogwo was said to 
have been attacked and whisked away by thugs led by a serving Commissioner in the State and the Special Adviser to the Governor on security matters, Mr. Cosmas Onyeukwu. The whereabouts of the Chairman was unknown as at press time.
In sharp reaction to this development, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State frowned at the action of the Governor’s aide wondering why the APGA led State Government had to resort to acts of  banditry against elected council Chairmen in the State.
In a statement signed by Blyden Amajirionwu, the party’s publicity scribe, he said it is preposterous for the State Government to attack democratically elected chairmen when the matter is before a Court of law.
Part of the Statement reads: ‘It is a tragedy that has befallen the State where we are governed by an Emperor. This State is witnessing a climax of lawlessness. That a Government will degenerate to the level of brutality is most undesirable in this our dear Imo. This Government has in several ways brought shame and discomfort to all of us. We condemn the act of guerrilla used to intimidate and humiliate elected Councils’
Also, condemning the act, Owerri Municipal Council Chairmen, Emma Odor confirmed that thugs on the promptings of some Government officials were arrested by the Police, adding that  he and his colleagues in other LGAs had a close door session with the Imo State Commissioner of Police where they formally laid their complains.  
The 27 Council Chairmen in Imo State is of PDP while the State Governor comes from APGA.  For sometime, the Council Chairmen and the Okorocha Administration have been on war path since they were removed from office by the latter on July 7, 2011. Despite a Court Ruling reinstating the Chairmen as democratically elected, the Okorocha Administration sacked them from office and installed Transition Committee Chairmen.
When contacted for comments, Governor Okorocha’s Special Adviser (Print Media), Ebere Uzoukwa was not forthcoming for response as his GSM phone was not responding.    

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