Uzodimma pledged to continue to support the security agencies to do their work, as they did last Saturday at Eke Ututu market, notwithstanding the collateral damage that may go with it.
By Emma Ogbuehi
Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma, on Wednesday not only admitted that security operatives burnt down the popular Eke Ututu market in Orsu Ihitte Ukwa Local Government Area, but also justified the act.
He alleged that the market was burnt because security agencies had discovered it was a haven for the production of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) by bandits and other criminal elements.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday at the Government House Owerri, Uzodimma called on all Imolites, both those resident in the State and those visiting, who have information that can lead to where bandits are hiding or operating within the State to avail government of such information in the interest of all.
A statement by Oguwike Nwachuku, media aide to Uzodimma, quoted him as claiming that security report revealed that Eke Ututu was turned into a hiding place for bandits and kidnappers who, not only compelled the traders to pay taxes to them before they could open their shops for business, but also use the market to manufacture IEDs with which they operate within and outside the area.
Giving reason why the market, the mainstay of economic activities in Orsu and neighbouring communities was razed, the governor said report indicated that an Army Major working in the State recently fell victim to an IED planted at Eke Ututu as he was killed instantly after stepping on the locally manufactured explosive unknowingly.
One of the bandits, he claimed, was arrested at their Camp at Orsu Ihitte Ukwa and he gave the military hint about their mode of operation within the vicinity, including where they maintain shops for fertiliser and other gadgets at Eke Ututu where they manufacture the IEDs.
Uzodimma said unfortunately, on the day the military went to the market with the arrested bandit, the Captain who led the team also mistakenly stepped on an IED that was carefully hidden at the place and in the process he was badly injured that he had to be admitted at the intensive care unit of the Federal Medical Centre Owerri.
Angered by these developments, particularly the loss of their senior officer and the wounding of another, he said the Armed Forces authorised a combined operation involving their men from Imo and Anambra States at Orsu Ihitte Ukwa, mainly the Eke Ututu market.
Uzodimma, who said that it was in the process that the security agencies razed the market, insisted that his government will stop at nothing in the fight against terrorism, banditry and kidnapping in Imo State.
He pledged to continue to support the security agencies to do their work, notwithstanding the collateral damage that may go with it.
“This is not politics, it is about the security of lives and property of our people. And anybody who wants to play politics with this should be ready to face history that will judge all of us.”
The governor, who accused the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of trying to make a political capital of the incident, not only claimed that its members have a hand in the spate of banditry, kidnapping and other forms of criminality in the State, but also said that from their behavior, they want to frustrate the conduct of elections in Imo State.
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Explaining how the Eke Ututu market was burnt last Saturday, Uzodimma said:
“Last month soldiers on duty around Orsu, Awo Idemili area lost an Army Major to illegal and locally manufactured explosives.
“Only last Saturday the Joint Security Forces who arrested one of the bandits took him to where they operate from to go and visit where the local explosives are manufactured. It turned out to be at Eke Ututu market where four shops were stocked with fertilizers, ammonia sulphate and other electrical gadgets used in manufacturing explosives were packed.
“Unfortunately, the Army Captain that led the operation to the market is now lying critically at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Federal Medical Centre Owerri as a result of attack he sustained in the operation.
“Consequent upon the above, the soldiers were able to recover all the weapons and the fertilizers meant to manufacture the local Improvised Explosive Device. In the process of this operation the military burnt down the shops as this is consistent with their policies.
“The good news, however, is that they were careful and so tactical that no life was lost. They were only able to destroy the shops where they met these items and came back.
“It pleased some citizens of the State, most of them who are candidates running for elections in some political parties, to condemn the activities of the security agencies, some brazenly blackmailing the security agencies on why should they go there at all, when none of them made any attempt to visit the scene (Eke Ututu).
“These are Imo people, some are at Abuja speaking to the Media while others are in Owerri ranting while Imo State is bleeding.
“In the same Eke Ututu market, some natives and traders cannot go to the market without paying illegal taxes to the bandits and unknown gunmen to enable them open their shops. This, unfortunately, is what government had been fighting all through.
“Government is in a position to deal with any collateral damage that may go with the security agencies operations as it concerns the destruction of shops and historical significance of Eke Ututu market, but lives lost can never be recovered.
“When Eke Ututu is destroyed to give Imo people peace, Imo government can rebuild the market and if in the process properties and items are lost government can work out compensation, but government has the responsibility to fight crime.”