Former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, has faulted the killings of members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), especially in Imo State.
Okorocha, while speaking on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) programme on Monday, September 20, said IPOB members should be listened to and understood instead of being shot at.
He said: “When IPOB started, they came to Imo State when I was the governor, but I listened to them and understood their grievances. They asked me to join them, and I told them if they can convince me to have another passport, I will join.
“I could have asked my men to shoot them as they were killed in Okigwe and other states, but no. I had to listen to know what they were going through.
“That is how the Nigerian government should treat the youths, sympathise with them. Treat them well,” Okorocha said.
Okorocha also lends his voice to the clamour for the South to produce the president in 2023.
He said: “I support the Southern governors on the issue of zoning the presidency and the next region is the South.
“We started with South-West when President Olusegun Obasanjo (became the president). Then we went back to the North when we had (Umaru) Yar’Adua. South again with Goodluck Jonathan, and now the North is having it with the incumbent President (Muhammadu Buhari). So, why would it be changed when it is the turn of the South again?
“It is a fair thing to do. If this is not done, then APC becomes a Northern party,” the senator said.