The member representing Imo West Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, on Monday accused Governor Hope Uzodimma of mobilising thugs and policemen to attack him on Sunday.
Okorocha called on the Inspector-General of Police(IGP), Mohammed Adamu, to arrest Uzodimma’s Special Adviser on Special Duties, Chinasa Nwaneri, and Special Assistant on Youths, Eric Uwakwe, for leading the thugs.
The thugs and the policemen, according to him, macheted his orderly, one of his brothers-in-law and a civilian aide.
He, however, thanked the Presidency for its quick intervention but warned Uzodimma not to take his peaceful disposition for cowardice.
Okorocha, a former All Progressives Congress (APC) governor, spoke when his supporters paid him a solidarity visit at his Spibat residence in Owerri, the state capital.
Before then, the Southeast Governors Forum had in a statement called on the two political gladiators to sheathe their swords in the interest of the state .
The senator had in a recorded interview with a television station on Sunday said he was not hurt because his orderlies “rushed me to a room and locked me up.”
He was later arrested for unsealing the Royal Spring Palm Estate, a facility belonging to his wife, Nkechi, which was seized by the state government.
Okorocha, a one-time chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum, told his supporters that he wanted IGP Adamu to investigate the incident because he also suspected that some of the people that wore police uniform were not policemen.
Okorocha, who warned that Uzodimma may not end well as a governor if continued adopts violence and intimidation as his style of governance, said he contacted the Police Command Commissioner Nasiru Muhammed. and the Director of the Department of Security Services (DSS), Arthur Warry before going to the sealed estate.
According to him, the Police commissioner and the DSS boss categorically told him that they had no men posted to the estate.
He said, “Before going to Akachi Estate, I called the commissioner of police and the director of DSS and they said they didn’t know of any police or security personnel at the Royal Spring Palm Estate. That made me visit the place to see who brought the policemen there.
“I never expected that a governor of a state could deploy thugs. Hope Uzodimma is going the wrong way. He may not end well as a governor.
“I restrained myself from telling my orderly and security aides from releasing live bullets because there could have been deaths yesterday (Sunday). I did this because of my peaceful disposition. But, Uzodimma should not take my peaceful disposition for cowardice.
“I want to add that the IGP should order the immediate arrest of Chinasa Nwaneri and Eric Uwakwe. They led thugs injured my orderly and staff with machetes. They also shot Uzor, my in-law, shattering his feet with bullets. The police were there watching because they came from Government House.
“I also want the IGP to find out whether these people were real policemen or thugs brought from outside and given police uniforms. I don’t think that any policeman would act in the manner that they acted yesterday(Sunday).
“One of them who was bearded claimed to be a soldier. He stabbed Samuel (his orderly) before me. I don’t think he is a soldier
“There was a complete breakdown of law and order yesterday. I don’t think that any sane governor would want to govern a state that is in chaos.
“The governor first reported matters to EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) and ICPC (Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission), claiming that I used Imo State money to build some properties.
“When he could not make any headway about that, Uzodimma resorted to self-help, using the police to assist him
“Concerning the hotel in question, Hope Uzodimma’s Commissioner for Lands (Enyinna Onuegbu) went to that hotel and sealed it.
“I requested my wife to come home and invest for the purpose of creating jobs. I was never a poor man before I became a governor. I brought my children to invest here because I believe in this state. Most of the people fighting me have no house in Imo State.
“The Commissioner for Lands arrested all the people there, including lodgers and staff members before even putting the padlock. Those people are still with police.”
The South-east governors in a statement by their Chairman and Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, urged the two political leaders to settle their dispute internally, instead of washing their dirty linen in public.
“The South-east Governors’ Forum sues for peace between Governor Uzodimma and former Governor Okorocha,” Umahi said.
He added that he had already made contacts with the two men who had “agreed for a truce.”
“We, therefore, call for calm among the supporters of the two political heavyweights to ensure a timely and amicable resolution of the disagreement within the shortest possible time,” Umahi added.
Imo PDP warns Okorocha, Uzodimma
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state condemned the incident, warning Okorocha, and Uzodimma against turning Imo into a theatre of war.
The party held that the face-off was not about the welfare of Imo people but about ownership of looted assets.
The opposition party said in a statement by its spokesman, Ogubundu Nwadike, that it was regrettable that the ruling APC and its leaders were escalating tension in the state while governance suffers.
It said: “The supporters of Senator Rochas Okorocha and Governor Hope Uzodimma have stirred up tension and apprehension in the state thereby jeopardising the atmosphere of peace and tranquility.
“The APC government in the state has created a Frankenstein monster which haunts the relative peace and social order in the state, Imo people are now living in fear and apprehension as hired hoodlums now have the run of the state.”
Ohanaeze faction condemns arrest
The leadership of a faction of Ohanaeze Ndigbo led by Uche Okwukwu condemned Okorocha’s arrest by ‘agents’ of the Imo State governor.
Okwukwu, in a statement on Monday, called on Igbo elders to intervene in the matter urgently because the “melodrama” could undermine the Igbo politically.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo demands unconditional apologies to be tendered to Owelle Okorocha. In the alternative, where he is found to have contravened the law, Ohanaeze demands he be immediately charged to a court of competent jurisdiction to defend himself,” he added.
Group seeks independent inquiry
Also on Monday, a coalition of pro-democracy groups called on the Caretaker/Extra-Ordinary Convention Planning Committee of the APC to set up an independent inquiry on the Okorocha-Uzodimma feud.
The APC Coalition on Good Governance said during a peaceful protest in Abuja, that Okorocha governor “should not be disgraced due to differences that can be reconciled.”
It said pointed out that Okorocha has remained the voice of the APC in the Southeast and therefore must be respected within the party.
