Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Commercial activities in Imo State were paralysed Monday as the #EndSARS protesters led by Nollywood actor Longinus Anukwute, popularly known as Chief Imo, barricaded the popular Warehouse roundabout.
Weatheral and Douglas roads were also overrun with youth protesters who sang and danced along these major roads unhindered.
Many residents of the State were stranded on the road as a result of the demonstration, while others trekked long distances to get to their destinations.
Anukwute, addressing the protesters, said they were prepared to sleep on the road unless their demand for a good government devoid of corruption in the country was addressed.
Meanwhile, Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma has inaugurated a panel of inquiry on human rights abuses by the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS).
The panel, which is headed by Justice Florence Duroha Igwe (retd), according to the Governor would look into all allegations by the youths on not just the SARS unit but all other erring departments in the Nigeria Police Force.
Governor Uzodinma, who included the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and human rights activists in the State as members of the panel, enjoined them to look into the extrajudicial killings by SARS, urging the panel to feel free to invite and take evidence from families and friends of complainants.
He also charged them to evaluate cases and make recommendations to the State Government on their findings.
Speaking after their inauguration, panel chair Igwe said that the setting up the panel indicated the Governor’s responsiveness to Imo citizens, just as she appealed to all aggrieved persons to channel their complaints to the panel.