…urges Tinubu to intervene on assumption of office
From George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
The Imo state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) has said that the Governor Hope Uzodimma has been shopping for an endorsement for his failed administration while the state is being over run by kidnappers , arsonists and bandits .
The opposition party has also accused the Imo state governor of using state apparatus to oppress Imo people ,gag the press and intimidate political opponents .
The party also called on Mr. Bola Ahmed Tinubu to quickly intervene his assumption of office to discontinued the loud silence of the federal government.
Speaking at a World Press Conference on Sunday , Mr Collins Opurozor , state Publicity Secretary of PDP, said that while the state is facing existential threat as a result of mass killings ,endless abductions that wobbling and failed administration of Governor Hope Uzodimma is more interested in purchasing endorsements .
The statement which read , “As a political party, we are dismayed by the alarming incompetence, lack of focus and total failure of the outgoing government of Senator Hope Uzodinma to tame this rampaging monster of insecurity for more than two years. The truth is not so much that the security strategies of this government have failed than that the government has no strategies to tackle the security challenges.
This failed APC administration in the State must now give way for a focused, result-oriented, responsible and humane government of PDP to step in and begin the process of genuine healing in the State.
It further stated , “It is now clear that Senator Uzodinma has lost Imo State. His purchase of a few endorsements has not helped his wobbling regime. He is now desperate, running to his fellow governor for award and validation. But no matter how hard he tries, his removal from power is a decided issue. Nothing can change this.
The largest senatorial district in the State, which is Orlu, has been abandoned, economic activities crippled and over a million residents displaced. Okigwe Zone has also become a warfront. Parts of Owerri Zone are fast becoming engulfed in this fire of insecurity. If we do not act now, every Imo person may soon become a refugee in other parts of the country.
Traditional rulers are now brutally murdered. In some instances, they are beheaded and their bodies dumped in the streets. Judges are dragged out from their courtrooms and slaughtered like rams. In the last seven days, two Catholic priests have been abducted and their whereabouts still unknown. Things have fallen apart, and Imo has become a wasteland!”
The party said that the state government has also being accused of complicity in the intractable insecurity ravaging the state .
“Also, a government that has been fingered in the extra judicial killing of its own citizens has lost the moral authority to continue to run the affairs of the state.
A recent report by an international human rights watchdog called Intersociety has aligned with our long-held position, that the government in Imo State has questions to answer over the killings in the State. We have it in Intersociety’s authority that, over nine hundred innocent Imo residents have been murdered in extrajudicial manners in the last twenty-nine months. This means that at least one innocent person is killed every day in Imo by those who are supposed to protect them. Nothing is ever done to ensure justice is served. Nothing is ever said by the government. Killing is now a norm. This cannot continue!
Similarly, more than three hundred Imo residents have been victims of forced disappearances, while over five hundred thousand young men have fled the State for fear of being profiled and killed. Political opponents have been targeted for elimination. The brutal attacks on Hon. Uju Kingsley Chima and Barr. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, in which family members and political supporters were gruesomely murdered, remain a pointer to the pitiable situation in Imo.
During the last elections in February and March, Imo people witnessed another dimension to state-sanctioned violence. Government appointees and APC party officials led armed thugs and rogue security agents to unleash mayhem on innocent citizens in the desperation to capture power. This is everything governance should not be. These atrocities must never go unpunished.”
Continuing , “Imo PDP recalls with deep agony how a female undergraduate of Imo State University was murdered just in front of the Government House in Owerri by those suspected to be security agents. Yet, the government kept mute. A young businessman was gunned down by suspected security operatives at Amakohia in Owerri on his way back to home. A young lawyer was trailed and shot dead. Another young man who had returned from Germany was murdered at a security checkpoint on his way to the airport. Fourteen unarmed young men from Otulu were rounded up and massacred in Awo-Omamma on their way back from the traditional marriage ceremony of their friend. Eyewitnesses, including the groom, said the killers were members of the Ebubeagu security outfit established and run by the government of Senator Uzodinma. Horrifying genocide is going on in Imo State!
Before the commencement of this orgy of bloodshed, Senator Uzodinma had made a statement in Abuja, where he boasted that it was on his invitation that the full-blown military operation in Imo began.”
The party disclosed that it had documented all the alleged cases of extrajudicial killings and human rights abuses in the State, and has commenced the process of presenting them before the International Criminal Court, so that principal officials of this administration can answer to their heinous crimes against humanity.
“We have also pursued this matter with the Embassies and High Commissions of all the American and European countries to ensure that a total and immediate visa ban is enforced on Senator Hope Uzodinma and officials of his regime.
Imo PDP urges the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to quickly intervene, upon assumption of office, to discontinue the silence of the Federal Government over Senator Uzodinma’s use of state apparatus to oppress Imo people, gag the press and crush political dissent.
“The President-elect must respect the decision of Imo people, and should neither hatch nor partake in any scheme to allow this unelected, unpopular and widely-rejected regime to stay in power a day longer than January 15, 2024.”