What happened to Nwosu horror to behold —Okorocha
Okorocha should be saved from himself —Imo Govt
IPOB & ESN vindicated as masterminds of insecurity are exposed
By Olayinka Ajayi, Chimaobi Nwaiwu & Chinonso Alozie
Former Chief of Staff to Imo State Government and son -in-law to former Governor Rochas Okorocha, Mr Uche Nwosu said yesterday that he was accused of supplying arms to militants.This allegation was contained a petition made to the police by yet-to-identified individual.
Nwosu made this known in Owerri, while narrating the experience of his arrest by security operatives at St Peter’s Anglican Church Eziama-Obiere, in Nkwerre Local Government Area of Imo State during the outing service of his late mother, Jemimah Nwosu, last Sunday.
He explained that he was taken to the Police Tactical Squad office in Abuja, where he was told by the police that “Someone wrote a petition against me (Nwosu), that I was supplying arms to militants and giving them money.”
He added that there was no time that the police officially invited him to come and answer questions from the petition against him.
He therefore demanded from the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Usman Alkali Baba to investigate the owner of the private jet which was used to fly him from Enugu to Abuja.
Nwosu spoke as the former governor of the state and his father-in-law Rochas Okorocha expressed shock over Nwosu’s experience in the hands of his abductors.
This is even as the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, yesterday, described as a sacrilege, the alleged abduction from a Church service, condemning the act in its entirety.
IPOB said the abduction has exposed the masterminds of insecurity in Imo State, adding that it is a vindication that IPOB and Eastern Security Network, ESN, are not responsible for the numerous attacks, abductions/kidnappings in the state contrary to alleged false accusations and propaganda by the state government against the pro Biafra group.
Narrating his ordeal, Nwosu said: “The petition the Police said was from somebody stated that their reason for arresting me was that I was supplying arms to militants and giving them money. The whole plan was cooked up in Imo State Govt House. The security men attached to the Government House, one Shaba was behind this plot.
“The plot was to humiliate me and malign my image. No security man from Abuja or the state command came for that operation. Those security officers were all security men attached to the government of Imo State.
“A normal policeman cannot behave the way they did. They came and shot inside the church which no professional police officer would do. They shot anyhow. They are a killer squad from the Government House.
“Nobody invited me or called me on phone. I would have answered but I did not receive any invitation from the police. So, just like that, they came, arrested me and handled me like a criminal and treated me like I have committed an offence.
“I want the Inspector General of Police, IGP, to investigate the person who ordered for my arrest and the owner of the private jet and who paid for the private jet that took me from Enugu to Abuja. They took me to the tactical squad office and the IG sent somebody to come and interview me and I gave my statement. From what I gathered, the IG was not properly briefed on what was going on.”
However, the Imo State Government through the Imo State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba, has maintained that the government has no hand in the events that led to the arrest of Nwosu and that it was purely the activities of the security operatives, adding that they should wait for the outcome of the investigation of the police.
What happened to Nwosu was horror to behold–Okorocha
According to Okorocha, “What is happening in Imo State is unfortunate. It is unfortunate what Imo State is going through at this very crucial moment in the nation’s history. What is happening in Imo State is so serious that Imo is almost looking like a Banana Republic where there’s complete lawlessness and the people live in fear. There’s no day that passes without people being killed. It seems everybody is living in fear and nobody can speak out. It seems the happenings in Imo State have some backing in Abuja. There is presumed enemity between the people here and the federal government just because of some communication gap. Thank God this is getting unraveled now with the recent arrest of Ogwunba Uche Nwosu in the Church. This has never happened in the history of mankind, that masked police officers entered into a church shooting sporadically, pushing them, tearing their dresses, whisking them, beating them up. It’s a very ugly situation. So what happened to Nwosu is still a horror to behold.
“This is how the story of unknown gunmen started. What happened to Uche Nwosu showed that unknown gunmen are set of policemen who without the consent of the commissioner of police or the Inspector General of Police, IGP, on their own, from the instruction of the government of Imo State led by Hope Uzodimma and his Chief Security Officer, CSO, Shaba picked people at will and locked them at will.
“Gradually something is beginning to unravel and that is the good news about this. Right now, they have carefully put the image of the federal government and the Nigerian police at stake. Why would the police go to Church? Imo people are still in fear and it would take the federal government to assuage their fear.
Okorocha should be saved from himself–Imo govt
But in its reaction yesterday, the Imo State government said the former governor and now Senator Rochas Okorocha has continued to dance naked in the street and behaving like someone who is on a journey of self destruction.
“He has continued to speak incohorently like someone who needs urgent medical attention.”
A statement signed by Oguike Nwachukwu, the Chief Press Secretary and Media Adviser to Governor described as incomprehensible, the fact that someone who governed a state for eight years would open his mouth to say he can stand behind a suspect in a criminal case where the person had already volunteered statement to the police.
“From all indications, Okorocha’s demeanour clearly demonstrates that he is neck deep into the causes of insecurity in Imo State but hiding behind his fingers to shout hoax.
“We can only hope that the security agencies are taking further note of Okorocha’s comments on the security situation in Imo.
“Rather than be in a hurry to spin useless yarn that nobody is ready to listen, Okorocha should rather wait for the outcome of the investigation into the case involving his son In-law, Uche Nwosu, who was arrested on Sunday for alleged sponsorship of bandits and insecurity in Imo.
“It should also worry Okorocha that his name was also mention.
“The seriousness which Imo people attach to the killings of their kit and kin by suspected bandits with the attendant insecurity in Imo State are not issues Okorocha should come on television to trivialize the way he did governance for eight years.”
Abduction from Church is sacrilege —IPOB
IPOB in a statement said: “We , the global movement and family of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, ably led by our great leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu condemn the abduction of Mazi Uche Nwosu in St Peter’s Anglican Church, Nkwerre in Imo State. We see the act as a sacrilege and lack of respect for the Church and God.
“This is another vindication that IPOB and Eastern Security Network, ESN, are not responsible for the numerous attacks, abductions/kidnappings in Imo State, contrary to false accusations and propaganda by Hope Uzodimma-led Imo State and their co-travellers.
“The incident has also further confirmed the complicity of Hope Uzodimma -led Imo State government and the APC in the insecurity going on in Imo State and South East region.
“But for the dexterity and fighting spirit of Nwosu’s family and associates, the Imo State government and their co-travellers and some infamous media houses would have, as usual, pointed accusing fingers at ESN, IPOB and unknown gunmen. But God Almighty, Chukwu Okike Abiama, has exposed them this time around.
“It will not be a surprise if by tomorrow, the Imo State government and its infamous governor fingers Uche Nwosu and his in-law Rochas Okorocha as the sponsors of IPOB, ESN, unknown gunmen and insecurity in Imo State. We know his antics and such options may not be out of their table.
“For the umpteenth time, no single individual can sponsor IPOB. We are a global movement and millions of our family members home and abroad remain the source of our sponsorship.
“We have never hidden this fact because we are not a secret or terror organisation. IPOB is well grounded and we don’t need any Okorocha, Uche Nwosu or Hope Uzodimma or any politician for that matter to sponsor us. We have no dealings with corrupt politicians and people with questionable source of wealth.
“It’s now transparently obvious to all who the masterminds of the abductions/ killings of many traditional rulers and religious leaders including politicians in Imo State and other parts of southeast are.
“It is also now clear who created unknown gunmen to demonize and implicate IPOB and ESN operatives. God Almighty, Chukwu Okike Abiama who designed this fight for Biafra freedom and independence has always vindicated us and will continue to vindicate IPOB/ESN.”