Former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, has accused his successor, Emeka Ihedioha, of using armed thugs to harass and threaten his family.
KanyiDaily had reported that armed youths attached to the Imo State Committee on Recovery of Government property, invaded a shopping mall (House of Freeda) owned by one of Okorocha’s daughter, Uloma Nwosu.
The task force which was created by the Governor Ihedioha, invaded the shopping mall in search of government property following reports that some property and merchandise said to belong to the state government were carted away by Okorocha and his family members.
No fewer than six workers in the complex were severely wounded during the invasion that was supervised by the Chairman of the Committee, Hon Jasper Ndubuaku.
Following the invasion, Okorocha accused Ihedioha’s task force of making bold its threat to mob his family for allegedly withholding some government properties in their possession.
Okorocha noted that in less than 48 hours after the task force Chairman, Jasper Ndubuaku had claimed at a press conference that he (Okorocha) and his wife and some other of his former aides had left with 67 vehicles and N50billion; the task force, he said, invaded the shop of one of his daughters, Uloma Nwosu with some armed thugs and looted valuables from it.
He said that rather than accepting his challenge of showing proofs of their claim, they went looting the shop of her daughter.
According to Okorocha, the armed thugs not only looted his daughter’s shop but also looted other shops at the complex belonging to other people, making away with cash and goods worth millions of naira.
“They also attacked all the occupants of the complex and made merry with the drinks in the shops at the complex. They threatened to kill anybody who would bring out his or her phone to video the rampage. They also maltreated the journalists who had hints of the invasion and rushed to the place to see things by themselves.
“They left with their loots in buses and also took away a bus belonging to Reach FM Radio parked at the premises. One of the female staff of Mrs. Nwosu’s shop who begged them to allow her take inventory of all they were carrying away, was pushed down and she hit her head on the floor. It was totally barbaric and very unfortunate for a peaceful state like Imo” Okorocha narrated.
“The truth is that these elements are not recovering any property. They want to hide under that guise to unleash terror on the citizenry and then scare people away to see if they could gain any ground because they know that the Ihedioha-led government has a lot of issues. He didn’t win the election looking at the whole graphs, and they have adopted this thuggery style to create undue fear in the people of the state.
“If they were really serious with the recovery of government properties, they would not have been afraid or reluctant to publish the particulars of the 67 vehicles and details of the N50billion they claimed the former governor and the wife left with? We know that they were deceitful and trading on falsehood and that is the reason we came up with that challenge.
“They have also asked the Police in the State to return the Sienna buses the past government donated to the Divisional Police Headquarters and Area Commands in the State for the effective policing of the State which made the issues of kidnapping and other crimes in the State to become things of the past. And those Sienna Buses could be among the 67 vehicles they said the former governor took away,” Okorocha observed.
Although, it would be recalled that the task force chairman had threatened to use six thousand youths to recover the government properties from those who refuse to surrender them in a press conference.
“Nigerians should also recall that Mr. Ndubuaku had disclosed that he had recruited 6,000 youths to help him recover the “Government Properties”. And he has taken off with the 6,000 youths. No reasonable government initiates lawlessness or banditry because nobody can predict who will be at the receiving end, at the end of the day.
“Meanwhile, every step must be taken to ensure that the looted items and money are recovered and those involved in the madness brought to book,” the ex-governor said.
