By Vincent Egunyanga
There has been accusations and counter accusations between the governor of Imo state Hope Uzodinma and the camp of the former governor Rochas Okorocha. Both camps have even accused the other of been behind the insecurity in the state especially as it relates to the issue of the unknown gun men which has always been blamed on the Independent Peoples of Biafra, ( IPOB) an allegations they have consistently denied.
After the purported arrest of Okorocha’s inlaw Uche Nwosu by the police in Owerri inside a church, Senator Okorocha had tasked security agencies to investigate if there was any connection between the police that arrested Uche Nwosu in the church and the unknown gunmen.
But the state government believe that the insecurity in the state or the so called Unknown gunmen are members of the Imo security Network owned by Rochas Okorocha and commanded by a member of the House of Representatives Kingsley Iju . It said Okorocha is bent of making the state under Hope Uzodinma ungovernable.
One of the leaders of the state and former chairman of the Independent National electoral commission ( INEC ) Professor Maurice Iwu told NEWSPLATFORM MAGAZINE that the crisis is not really between Rochas Okorocha and the Hope Uzodinma but between Rochas Okorocha and the state.
He said the people of the state are resisting efforts by Rochas to establish a family dynasty in the state. He said his plan was to make his inlaw Uche Nwosu governor of the state and after his tenure Okorocha’s biological son will succeed him.
While being optimistic that the crisis would be resolved, Professor Iwu said peace would still return to the state but first all Rochas stole from the state must first be recovered and the man prosecuted.
In the same vein the National Chairman of Zenith Labour Party Dan Nwayanwu in a recent interview with African Independent Television ( AIT) said Hope Uzodinma must probe the former governor of the state Rochas Okorocha and all he had stolen from the state must be recovered.
Police report made available to Newsplatform Media showed one of the members of the Imo Security Network who was arrested by the Police confessing that a Member of the House of Representatives Hon Kingsley Iju is their leader working for Rochas Okorochas family. The suspect also showed somewhere in Orsu area of Imo state where cannibalism was practiced. The picture is available but viewers discretion is advised.
The crisis or war has nothing to do with the development or progress of the state. It is a test of strength, muzzle or madness.
The reason why the crisis has prolonged for so long and seems no solution in sight is that both of them are loyal to the Northern Political elite or domination and are very willing to protect that interest.
It is also a reflection and an extension of the crisis in the core North between the Fulanis and the Kanuri.
Okorocha is loyal to the Fulanis especially in the North West. He had the contact with the Fulanis while living and doing business in Jos, the Plateau state capital. Infact as the then governor of Imo state his biggest investment outside Imo state is In Zamfara state. Okorocha is said to have one of the biggest secondary schools and Estates in Zamfara state in, North West, Nigeria.
Hope Uzodinma on the other hand is fully under the control of the Kanuris especially the former governor of Borno state Ali Modu Sherif who is also aspiring to be the next National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress ( APC). Ali Modu Sheriff had always wanted Hope Uzodinma to be governor of Imo state even when he was the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Uzodinma is now the governor of the state on the platform of the APC with Ali Modu Sheriff using one of the most powerful Kanuri men in government former Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, the late Abba Kyari also a Kanuri man.
As a governor Rochas Okorocha has had running battle with some leaders, elders and big wigs in the state.
He once said that the battle between him and those he termed held the state and her people in Bondage before his emergence as the governor of the state in 2011, adding that his determination to free the state and the citizenry from the bondage attracted enemy to him.
The former governor spoke at a special church service to Mark Imo at 42 held at the Victory chapel , government House, Owerri on Sunday 4th February 2018.
He said ‘Today am happy as I stand before you as governor of Imo state. This is an honour I can never take for granted. Before my advent, I have always nursed it in my mind that I would one day become the governor of this state. After my first attempt in 1999, I decided that the place is not meant for me. But on the other hand, I discovered that the state is in bondage and in the hands of the very few. That is the reason I decided to condescend from my Presidential ambition to come and rescue the state.’
He continued ‘ but my coming to rescue Imo state was not just the people alone and the state of affairs but the most important rescue was the mindset of the people, hence the team rescue mission.’
However one of the leaders of the state Professor Maurice Iwu said Rochas Okorocha is a reckless person.
Professor Iwu was also former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) disclosed to NEWSPLATFORM in an interview to respond to the then face off between his group IMO Economic Development Initiative and the state government.
The Imo Economic Development Initiative during a courtesy visit to then governor Rochas Okorocha at the government house, Owerri in 2018, called for a rapid Economic Development of the state.
He said the IEDI is a private initiative set up to boost human capital development, wealth creation, and poverty alleviation in the state.
