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The Governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Imo State, Senator Athan Achonu has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the bombing of some communities in the Okigwe local government area of the state.
Achonu made the appeal at a press conference in Owerri, the state capital on the heels of heightened political atmosphere trailing the 11th of November, 2023 governorship election in Imo and the rising spate of killings in some local government areas.
He lashed out at Governor Hope Uzodinma accusing him of threatening the people of the state with bombings if they refused to support him and asked Tinubu to wade into the situation to save the state from anarchy.
The special adviser to the Imo State government on print media, Mr Modestus Nwankpa, he dismissed the allegation of state-sponsored violence and said Achonu had a case to answer on why insecurity had persisted in the state.
Achonu however maintained that the arson attacks were state sponsored, saying “Permit me to state categorically that this measure of state sponsored violence and destruction, should not be meted to any zone or community for any reasons, while we await the security agencies to unravel those behind this unjustified bloodshed and destructions.”
He asked President Tinubu to immediately set up an investigation team to unmask those behind the killings, bombings and destruction of property in the state.
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Achonu said, “I want to call on Mr President once again, to set up a high-powered investigative panel to unravel the perpetrators behind the wanton killings and destruction of properties currently going on in Imo State, and more so, to use this office to call the Imo State governor to order, especially following his recent threats of “BOMBING” communities in parts of Imo State”.
He lamented that Izombe and Oguta had become no go areas as a result of insecurity warning that if the unhealthy trend is left unchecked, it might provoke apathy during the forthcoming governorship poll.
The LP flag bearer queried what he described as the refusal and delay to refurbish destroyed police formations across the state.
Achonu, a non-serving senator, lamented that several people had been rendered homeless, scores killed, and many people missing, noting that it had destroyed livelihood of people.
He said, “As I address you now, so many families are left homeless, scores dead and many missing and yet to be accounted for. It grieves my heart, that these dastardly acts are being directed at defenceless citizens. It is with so much grief and sadness that I address the nation today, on the ongoing multiple bombardments happening in Okigwe zone, which has led to the destruction of lives, properties and livelihood.”
The governorship hopeful also appealed to people to shun any form of uprising, saying “Let me also use this medium to appeal to those families affected by these dastardly acts, not to take laws into their hands. We will make sure that justice prevails,” he said.
But Nwankpa asserted that less than 24 hours after the killing of security operatives in Ehime Mbano local government area in September, Achonu appeared at the scene of the incident without security claiming that he bought the land there to build a police post.
Nwankpa said. “He (Achonu) has one or two things to explain to Imolites concerning the attack.”
The governor’s aide said Uzodimma cannot destroy a house he built and blamed the opposition politicians for sponsoring insecurity in the state.
