From Gyang Bere, Jos and George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
Former governor of Imo State, Sen. Rochas Okorocha, has called on Governor Hope Uzodimma to deploy dialogue and consultation as surer ways to resolve the security challenges rather than confrontation approach.
He noted that despite the challenges of Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) and other agitators during his tenure as governor, he was able to keep the state peaceful due to his wide consultation among relevant stakeholders.
Okorocha offered this advice in a brief speech in Kuru, Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State, after a condolence visit to the family of late Mrs. Felicia Biskanga.
He emphasized that except justice is allowed and poverty stamped out, the workload on the military and the police Force would yield little or no results.
Recalling how the deceased, Mrs. Felicia Biskanga, who he described as a very close family friend, had greatly helped him, Okorocha said: “She encouraged me a whole lot during my days of struggle especially when I opened St. Joseph Primary School, Vom, Plateau State. I recall the encouragement she gave me, how she had to go to the Ministry of Education to help me sort out some document issues, her demise is really painful to me.”
On the worsening security situation in Imo State and all over the country, he noted that Nigerians were passing through a very difficult moment in the history of the nation.
In a related development, the Imo State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has said that the attacks on the police headquarters and the Correctional Centre are clear indications that nobody is safe in the state.
The party noted that if stranger elements could gain easy access into the inner recesses of the central points of security administration in the state that means nobody is safe under the watch of the current administration.
Expressing his dismay in a chat with Sunday Sun, Chairman of Imo PDP, Charles Ugwuh, an engineer, said: “It is indeed too embarrassing that the Imo State Government House, Owerri, is directly ensconced in the same physical trajectory of the two facilities that were so easily penetrated by the criminals without any resistance from the security apparachik in the state. It goes to show that safety and security of lives and property in the state are not guaranteed, if such places could be so brazenly attacked, causing colossal damage by arson to property, culminating in jailbreak and release of entire inmates and even all suspects held in the custody of the State Criminal Investigation Department of Imo Police Command headquarters calls for concern.
He added: “Then, it worries sensibilities that while governor Hope Uzodimma blames the IPOB/ESN for the attacks, he is simultaneously blaming opposition parties and politicians for the attacks.”