Eastern Nigeria Crisis Takes New Twist in Imo

Security forces in Nigeria do not appear to be fair in dealing with the challenge in Eastern Nigeria. The situation there is also taking a political twist at the same time.

In Imo State, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is accusing Governor, Hope Uzodinma of allegedly being responsible for the series of extrajudicial killings in the troubled All Progressives Congress (APC) state.

This is coming as a federal legislator representing Abor Mbaise and Ngor Okpala Federal Constituency of Imo State, Bede Eke is ringing the alarm that the security agencies are mercilessly killing his constituents.

The killings, according to him, came on the heels of the recent assassination of the former presidential adviser and chieftain of the ruling APC, Ahmed Gulak in Owerri, the Imo state capital.

The lfederal lawmaker who raised the alarm n Abuja gave the names of some victims as Noel Chigbu Nzeribe, Tochi Ekwe, and many others missing kinsmen.

He said that many have been driven to the bushes while others fled to where they have spent days without their families.

While strongly condemning Gulak’s brutal murder, Eke appealed to the security agencies to exercise restraints and stop killing innocent people.

According to him, calls from his constituents have reached a crescendo to intervene in their current ordeal in the hands of the security operatives. Eke asked the police and the army to conduct discreet investigation, identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice rather than mass intimidation and killings of his constituents.

”We lost a young man. Until his death owns and operates a Shawarma shop just to make ends meet. He was shot by the army because he could not obey the rules at the checkpoint.

”The family has written a petition to the army. We as the people of Ngor Okpala/Mbaise are not happy about it and as the representative of the people, I want to make it known to the world that we are waiting for the outcome of the petition.

”As the representative of the people, I am giving the army 14 days to respond to the killing of that young man who left a pregnant wife and his two children. One is 3 and the other is 2 years old”, the legislator said.

In the mean time, the opposition PDP is asking the governor to account for the killing of innocent civilians in the state.

Imo State PDP Chairman, Charles Ugwu, who made this weighty allegation added that the governor failed to address the security issues in the state because he was masterminding them.

The party chief regrets that prominent sons and daughters of Imo have been killed within a space of one month and the governor has done nothing about it.

”The governor has to tell us what he knows about the gruesome murder of the Oru-east PDP Youth Leader as well as that of his friend, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak. There is no gainsaying that the Uzodinma-led government lacks the competence and willpower to protect the lives of the people.

”We, therefore, urge the federal government to set up a panel to investigate the governor to find out the root cause of the extrajudicial killings in Imo state. We appeal to all Imolites to remain calm and prayerful in this trying period”, he said.

 

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