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.
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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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