…IPOB not responsible for Imo crisis, says Governor
Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, on Wednesday, said aggrieved politicians in the country were sponsoring a “national crisis” in states controlled by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South-East geo-political zone.
Specifically, the governor said APC detractors were determined to bring down the administration of President, Muhammadu Buhari by sponsoring attacks in Imo and Ebonyi states – the two APC-controlled states in the South-East.
Uzodimma spoke on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme.
Gunmen on Monday attacked the Owerri Correctional Centre and freed over 1,800 inmates. The attackers also razed the Imo State Police Command headquarters situated in Owerri and burnt all the vehicles parked at the command headquarters.
The hoodlums further freed the suspects in the cells at the State Criminal Investigation Department of the command and made an attempt to loot the police armoury in the state.
It was gathered that the gunmen operated from 1am till 3am on Monday and sang solidarity songs at the Government House Roundabout for about 30 minutes before attacking the facilities.
The police accused members of the Eastern Security Network (ESN), the security arm of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), of being the masterminds of the attacks, but the secessionist agitators led by Nnamdi Kanu denied the allegation.
However, Uzodimma discredited the claim that IPOB members perpetrated the heinous acts.
He said, “Their (attackers) tactic is that they try to identify grievances of people in a particular area. If it is in Imo State and probably there are some IPOB people who are not happy, they hire hoodlums from outside Imo State, they bring them in, pretending to be IPOB and they commit these crimes and they go away.
“So, it is not about IPOB. Yes, we agree, we have aggrieved IPOB members, but I can tell you those who are doing this destruction, most of them were brought in from outside Imo State.”
Continuing, the governor said, “What happened in Imo State on Monday is unbelievable. A group of hoodlums sponsored by some politicians in Imo State decided to destroy public infrastructure and government facilities and attacked the correctional centre and the police headquarters, set many vehicles ablaze, broke the correctional facility open and the inmates escaped.
“I don’t want to pre-empt the investigations of other security agencies, but I can tell you we are working hard to ensure the sponsors of this dastardly acts must be brought to book.
“I don’t want to mention any name because I don’t want to pre-empt the outcome of any investigation, but we have credible investigation leading to those who begged the hoodlums, where they met and how they met and security agencies are already working with this information.”
