.Condemnations still trail Owerri killings
By Valentine Amanze
Online Editor
Cloud of uncertainty has befallen the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo State less than two years to the 2019 general elections.
The Abuja-based national leadership of the party is said to be worried over the Governor Rochas Okorocha-led government’s under-performance, coupled with the recent demolition of Owerri market and houses, which claimed several lives in Owerri.
Sources said that the state government did not consider the political implication and the timing of the destruction of properties of such magnitude in a state, which rival party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has stronghold.
The APC is therefore said to have quietly handed over the party structure in the state to a “mature mind” and also a governorship aspirant, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume; from Isiala Mbano in Okigwe zone, to avoid further embarrassment.
The measure, by the APC national leadership, analysts said, was to avoid losing Imo, an oil producing and the only state in the South East ruled by the party, in the next general elections.
Meanwhile, various groups have condemned the violent demolition of structures in Owerri, the state capital, on Saturday, August 26, 2017.
The PDP in Imo State, while flaying the exercise, also declared a seven-day mourning in the state for those, who died during the demolition of the market.
PDP Publicity Secretary, Imo State, Mr. Damian Opara, confirmed it.
He wondered why Okorocha demolished the market even when the case was still in Court.
While calling on the Imo people to vote out the Okorocha-led APC government in 2019, Opara advised the governor to stop demolishing roads and houses, as he was not fixing them.
His words: “Okorocha has not completed any road or housing project in Imo since he came to power. What he is doing is destroying the few good ones.
“Let him complete one and show Ndi-Imo before demolishing others. The man has destroyed all the roads in the state.”
Oprara appealed to Imo people to support the state PDP, which he said, had resolved its leadership crisis, with Charles Ezekwe as state chairman.
He also warned Ndi-Imo not to waste their votes on APC, stressing that the party has split into three: Osita Izunazo, Ifeanyi Araraume, and Rochas Okorocha’s camps.
Also, Chief Felix Ngoka, the
president general,
Owerri Community Assembly; and Hon Chinedu Akuche, the Local Government chairman (Emeritus),
Owerri Municipal Area Council, have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate what they described as senseless killing and destruction of properties in Owerri on August 26, 2017, by Governor Rochas Okorocha.
They lamented the brutal force used by the state on its citizens and called on the presidency to ensure peace reigns in Imo State.
While alleging that the military and the police during the exercise carted away many they killed in their Hilux van to an unknown destination, they listed those with injuries to include: (1) Michael Ibeawuchi, No. 7 Ekeonunwa Street, shot at his head and hand. (2) Chinedu Ibeawuchi, No. 9 Ekeonunwa Street, shot at his chest and leg. (3) Chukwuemeka Samuel, No. 35A Oparanozie Street, shot at the chest. (4) Sabastine Oparaku, Douglas/ Njemanze Street shot at the head. (5) Ifeanyi Osuji, lying unconscious, shot at the waist.
(6) Somtochukwu Ibeanusi, No. 23 Oguamalam Street, lying dead in the mortuary, shot at the head.
(7) Leonard Osuji,
No. 31 Okorie Street, shot on the laps. (8) One unidentified, unaccompanied young man shot at the head, lying unconscious and couldn’t disclos his identity.
Another group, Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN), a network of 49 civil society organizations spread across Nigeria and committed to promoting police accountability and respect for human rights, has also urged President Buhari to order a prompt, impartial and exhaustive investigation on the issue.
It said that the deployment of soldiers was unlawful and unwarranted since it was purely a civil dispute.
It alleged that the brazen display of executive lawlessness and impunity has become the hallmark of Governor Okorocha’s administration. “This is not the first time that the Governor of Imo State would unleash savage violence on the people he ought to be governing, targeting, especially critics and political opponents over disputes which are subjects of pending judicial proceedings,” the group’s National Coordinator, Okechukwu Nwanguma stated.
When contacted on phone, the Police imagemaker in Imo State, Andrew Enwerenem, could not speak on the issue. He said that he was attending a course at Abuja and could not give the number of the state Police commissioner as he promised before going to press.
But the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, stated that Owerri was peaceful.
He said, “Even the boy reported to have died has nothing to do with the demolition. The demolition was at Douglas Road but the boy was said to have died at Mbaise Road by Wethedral and when hoodlums began to fight themselves over their attempts to go to Ama-Hausa (Hausa Quarters) to loot Dollars.
According to him, the Owerri people are happy with the level of development in Owerri courtesy of Governor Rochas Okorocha.
“Afterall, the PDP governments in the state for 12 years had tried to relocate Ekeukwu Market but could not do so because they lacked the Political wiill and they were not keen in developing the state. They were only interested in sharing the money, drinking MOET, XO, Hennessy and having Gala nights,” he said.
