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Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma has been accused by the Labour Party (LP) of being behind Monday’s attack on its party secretariat in the state.
It called on the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to warn Uzodimma against intimidating its members in the state.
The party also urged the IGP to order the Commissioner of Police, Imo State Command, to rise to the occasion to forestall the breakdown of public peace.
Obiora Ifoh who is the National Publicity Secretary of the party, told journalists in a statement on Monday, that the Imo State Chairman of LP, Callistus Ihejiagwa, raised the alarm in a Save Our Soul (SOS) message, calling on public intervention.
Ifoh’s statement read, “At the early hours of today, Monday, August 28, the Imo State secretariat of the Labour Party has once more been attacked by the police and thugs allegedly by the directives of the state government.”
The state chairman of the Labour Party, Callistus Ihejiagwa, had earlier sent an SOS to the public, asking Nigerians to come to the aid of the party which at the time was at the mercy of the attackers who comprised of over a hundred thugs and the accompanying men of the police force.
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The SOS read, ‘Imo State Labour Party office in Owerri under serious attack by Hope Uzodimma led thugs and policemen. They are presently demolishing structures in our secretariat. Please let the entire world hear this and come to our aid.’
The statement also alleged that a voicemail sent to the Labour Party headquarters same day, said this, ‘We have been invaded by the thugs and policemen under the directives of Hope Uzodimma. They have pulled down all our flags, pulled down the banners of Peter Obi, pulled down the banners of our governorship candidate, seized people’s phone, beat people up, and committed all manners of atrocities just now in our office.’
According to the LP National Publicity Secretary, when confronted, the perpetrators said, ‘They were under directives by the state government to pull down Peter Obi and Senator Athan’s billboards but particularly that of Obi.’
The statement added, ‘They were instructed to target Obi’s billboard everywhere in the city. One of the assaulted members of the party is presently hospitalised after the brutality meted at us.
‘We are calling on the whole world to hear our predicament and come to our aid. The government is now hounding every opposition element in the state.’
It tied this incident to a campaign outing by its presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, who led party faithful, supporters and the Abia State governor, Dr. Alex Otti, including members of the House of Representatives on the party’s platform, to inaugurate the governorship campaign of its candidate in the upcoming Imo State gubernatorial election, Senator Athan Achonu.
Ifoh claimed that ‘the sea of heads that graced the occasion is believed to have sent a shocking warning of what will happen in the November 11 governorship election in the state.
‘You will also recall that the same secretariat was attacked in March and as well in April, this year, by the police in connivance with the state government.’
‘We are, therefore, calling on the state government to refrain from using brute force and intimidation against opposition political parties in the state.”
