Buhari Okays Additional Security for Imo over Renewed Attacks On Public, Private Property

•I’m not behind unknown gunmen, says Uzodinma 

•Calls on aggrieved politicians to sheath their swords

Deji Elumoye

The renewed attack on public and private property by unknown gunmen in Imo State, has received the attention of the federal government as President Muhammadu Buhari,yesterday, ordered security beef-up in and around all the 27 local government councils in the state.

The news was made public by Governor Hope Uzodinma of the state, who told reporters that  President  Buhari had approved his request for additional security to curb the recent resurgence of insecurity in the state.

Gunmen, at the weekend, had attacked a police station and burnt the country home of the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Professor George Obiozor, prompting President Buhari to summon Governor Uzodimma.

Presidential spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, had in a statement, said the president invited the Imo Governor to the State House, Abuja, with a view to appraising the latest security developments in the state.

Speaking with newsmen after his closed-door meeting with the President, Uzodinma, said the meeting centred on recent security skirmishes in the state and the way to approach the issue.

He said after briefing President Buhari about the security situation in his state, approval was given for more security personnel to be deployed to the state to ensure adequate security of lives and property.

Uzodinma said, “Generally, it is about insecurity in the South East and what is required to ensure that it is properly controlled. We discussed that and he took seriously my recommendations and indeed, I tell you he immediately gave approval to all that, which includes increase in manpower of security agencies and then logistics supports ranging from additional arms and ammunitions.

“Also, we are making use of our local vigilante and the involvement of community leaders to ensure that through community arrangements, additional security is provided to the people.

“Well, you will recall that a few days ago, the home of the President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, was attacked by armed bandits and in the same night, a police station in Umuguma Owerri West, was also attacked. And for a very long time, if you remember, we’ve never had such a situation. In fact, our people have relaxed thinking insecurity has become a thing of the past.

“But to the glory of God, security agencies rose to it and by the second day, they were properly repelled by security agencies particularly, men of the State Security Service. They have been very useful working with other security agencies.

“And we didn’t also wait; we initiated a community oriented programme, where the vigilante approach, has been reached and the community leaders have shown sufficient interest and we will get there.”

Shedding more light on what he meant by saying political bandits were behind attacks in the state, he said, “I didn’t say political bandits. So, I know that it is banditry and the crisis ravaging the country.

“I have said times without number, the one in Imo State in particular is politically contrived and we’re working with security agencies to unravel those behind it. And I am very confident that sooner or later they will be unraveled.”

Asked what he was doing to assuage aggrieved persons towards him or the state, the governor said, “Since January 2020, when I came to office, one of the things I initiated was quarterly stakeholders’ meeting.

“As a matter of fact, I have had six stakeholders engagements. And the purpose of that engagement is to create a platform, where the stakeholders will meet and will also act as an opinion poll to involve people in governance and that has yielded a lot of positive results.

“Arising from that we have also done one-on-one engagement with some critical stakeholders. For those, who are aggrieved, I don’t know if those grievances are against government or against individuals.

“But those who I think are part of the political system that are not contributing positively to the current administration, we are also reaching out to them. I, of course, know if anything is to go by, some of the reasonable minds have started coming back.

“If you have been following the the politics of Imo State of late, given the evolution we have just deployed to rescue the infrastructure, that were almost absent and our achievements so far, it has attracted a lot of support from our people. Leaders from Imo State are together and United in commending our efforts.

“And if you can go to Imo State and be on ground, apart from some dissenting voices that are on the social media, I think the state is almost recovered and we’re doing very, very well.

“So, there’s no need at this point in time for people to be aggrieved over what is not in existence. All I urge people to do is to be part of the growing concern, contributing your quota towards the development of the state and support the government of the day to deliver democratic dividend to our people.

“All these grievances here and there, what is the origin of the grievances? Why are people not able to look at the reality on ground. And I know that at this point in time, globally speaking, that we must not be left behind as a country; we must also not be left behind as a state. We need to unite ourselves, we need to be realistic with ourselves, we need to be proactive in making sure that our tomorrow is better.”

On the allegation that he was culpable in the crisis in the state and that his government was paying people to undermine security, Uzodinma denied being behind the unknown gunmen.

His words: “Well, thank God that you called us government. I don’t know how a government with paraphernalia of office, the Air Force, the Navy, the DSS, the Civil Defence, will now go for non-state actors to be used for governance.

“So as civilised people you also represent the elites, so you should be able to advise such minds to reason well and think well, because the only person that officially has power of cohesion is government. If anything is to go by, we are a God-fearing government, that is why we have not used force as the only way of controlling the violence in Imo State.

When asked if governors in Southeast zone were working in silos to tackle insecurity in the zone, as the Kaduna State Governor said Northwest governors came together and were able to financially invest in security, he said, “Well, if you look at what is going on in terms of security in the Southeast, that’s quite significant improvement in terms of what happened three months ago, or four months, and what is happening now.

“For instance, before this time, there was this so-called sit-at-home order; it is no longer happening in Imo State. Today is Monday, you can call your correspondent in Owerri, he should go round you will see that the traffic in Owerri city and the neighboring cities, our people have come to terms with the reality, which is only being law-abiding can give us what we’re looking for.’

Speaking on why the country home of Professor Obiazor was attacked since he was not a politician, the governor said the position was an enviable one, adding that the attack was currently being investigated by his administration.

“You know the President General of Ohaneze, you know that is the apex of the socio-political organisation of Ndigbo and is a position that comes with envy. In fact, it is when you succeed in life that, you know, if you don’t take time, the first enemy, you have will be your close friend, because of envy and unnecessary rivalry.

“We will do our best using the security agencies to arrest those who did the arson and to see what security will be able to extract from them in terms of information. But until that is done, unless there is any prophecy from any of us to be able to tell us this is the exact thing that led to this, let’s wait for the investigation report. At least, the preliminary  investigation report will come out before we can discuss the matter.”