Rochas Links Imo Attack to Poverty and Injustice
The former Governor of Imo State, and senator representing Imo West Senatorial District, Rochas Okorocha, has said the security challenges in Imo state should not be politicized while tracing its cause to poverty and injustice.
The ex-governor stated this on Thursday while speaking with newsmen in Jos, Plateau state. Rochas charged the government to immediately respond to the issues to avoid them escalating.
According to him, “The recent attack on the police headquarters, the Correctional Centres in Imo State, the unending herdsmen crisis and banditry, Boko Haram, kidnappings, these are all products of poverty and injustice,” he said three days after gunmen stormed the Nigerian Correctional Services and the Police Headquarters in Imo State, freeing an unspecified number of prison inmates.
“Time has come for we as political leaders to tell ourselves the truth and address this ugly situation and help our men and women of the Armed Forces and the police who are currently fighting the symptoms and not the disease. Something must be done urgently too.”
The senator also condemned the killings and noted that life is sacred and no human has the right to take another person’s life.
Recall that an unknown gunman had stormed the IMO state security agencies and correctional centre on April 5 and set the facilities ablaze and freeing inmates’ scores.
The gunmen also razed the Imo State Police Command headquarters in Owerri and burnt almost all the vehicles parked at the command headquarters.
The incident, which has long received criticism, has also instilled fear in most citizens of the state and its environs.
