Former Governor of Imo State Chief Rochas Okorocha called on both the State and Federal Government to apply wisdom rather than confrontation in trying to address security challenges facing the State, said the idea of using the Airforce and Army as a first measure would further aggravate the situation. Speaking with newsmen in Jos, Chief Okorocha said Nigeria is passing through a very difficult moment as a nation, said the recent attack on Police Headquarters, Correctional Centre in Imo State and unending banditry, Boko Haram, kidnapping and others in the country were products of poverty and injustice. ” I think the time has come for political leaders to tell ourselves the truth and address this ugly situation and also help our arm forces and the police. We are currently fighting the symptom and not the disease of poverty and injustice, something must be done urgently if we are willing and ready to address the situation. “However, I condemn in its entirety, the killing of any innocent soul because life is sacred and is a property of God. No one has the right to take anyone’s life under any guise. So while I call for peace, I call for understanding. We have a duty as leaders to correct this ugly issue of injustice in this country and poverty ravaging our nation,” he said. He implored both the state and federal governments to apply wisdom and engage the youths constructively instead of trying to politicise the issue at stake. “During my time as a Governor of Imo State, we applied wisdom in the sense that we talked to the traditional rulers and other stakeholders. There was a moment that IPOB wants to close down Imo State after shutting down Anambra and Abia States, I engaged the youths to convince me that, that was the way to go. But after the engagement, we all reasoned together. “But this idea of bringing Airforce and Army as a first measure aggravate the situation. But for anybody to say politicians are involved is trying to politicise the matter. I don’t think any sane politician will go and ask the youths to shoot at police headquarters. “Meanwhile, what I will urge the Imo State Government to do is to relocate the Police headquarters and the correctional service because the location is wrong. When I was the Governor I built standard Correctional Service that can occupy about 3,300 inmates at a good location but it is not being put to use.” He charges Governor Hope Nzodimma taking the challenge of leadership serious and engage in wide consultation, adding that if the Governor had contacted him on how he addressed the situation during his time he would have preferred useful advice. “If the Governor had contacted me on how I handled IPOD, kidnapping issues during my time, I would have told him how I handled them. We must always understand that these children, the youths are our children. What we need to do is to engage them, if we are saying they are criminals, we are also fathers of criminals and mothers of criminals. “The situation is overwhelming because we are not engaging them. There’s no difference between these youths and mine. I am able to control mine because I engaged them. So we should toe the path of peace instead of politicising the issue. On the new Inspector General of Police, the former Imo State Governor said the military and the police were being overloaded in terms of the situation on the ground, adding that for as long as injustice and poverty continued, there’s nothing the police and army forces can do.

The Nigerian Army on Thursday began show of force in Imo State. The Punch gathered that the military exercise was an offshoot of Monday attacks on Owerri Correctional Center and the Imo State Police Command headquarters. The attackers, who operated between 1am and 3am also attacked a military base at Ukwuorji on Owerri-Onitsha expressway, burnt a soldier in a car and razed four military operational vehicles. The military exercise was intended to burst the moral of security agents and to restore the confidence of the people in the security agents, a source told The PUNCH The source said, “The operation show of force is a military exercise targeted at restoring the confidence of the people in the security agencies. It is also a way of raising the morale of the operatives after the Monday’s deadly attacks. It is a reassurance that the security agents have the capacity and capability to enforce public order and decorum.” Our correspondent, who monitored the development, saw huge presence of military men on Orlu-Owerri Road, Owerri-Onitsha expressway and Owerri-Okigwe Road. Also, high presence of military men also patrolled the metropolis as fear continued to pervade the atmosphere. Meanwhile, the leadership of the Imo State Police Command had on Thursday begun the deployment of no fewer than one thousand cops to strategic places and security facilities in the state.

A former Assistant Director with the Department of State Services, Dennis Amachree, has said the secret police alerted the Nigeria Police Force and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, at least three times before Monday attacks in the state. Amachree, however, said the police and the governor, who is the chief security of the state, failed to act on the intelligence by the DSS. The former DSS official spoke on Thursday on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme monitored by The PUNCH . The PUNCH had earlier reported that gunmen on Monday attacked the Owerri Correctional Centre and freed over 1,800 inmates. The attackers also razed the Imo State Police Command headquarters situated in Owerri and burnt all the vehicles parked at the command headquarters. Speaking on the television programme, the ex-DSS director said, “There was enough intelligence, enough actionable intelligence. Actionable in the sense that it allows for space for people to execute it; one week ahead of the event and of course 72 hours before the event and then 48 hours before the event. “So, three times, the Nigeria Police Force was informed by the DSS that this is going to happen because some suspects that are being geolocated around the area were found surveilling the prisons and the police headquarters but you know in our lackadaisical way, when the intelligence came, they threw it by the side and when something happens, everybody runs around.” “All security reports are shared with the governor in a state first, then, it is shared with other sister agencies like the police, the military, if there is military installations there, all of them got this particular report. So, the governor is very much aware,” he said. The ex-DSS director, however, said, “Apparently nothing was done (to forestall the attacks). You can see that the governor was referring to that particular report that it is not IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra).” Amachree lamented, “Some people are just too lazy to do their jobs.” He also faulted claims by the then Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, that members of IPOB masterminded the attacks. “He (Adamu) doesn’t have his fact right because I don’t see how he can identify them. You identify people by either arresting some of them or from what they say but there was no person that was arrested,” the ex-DSS director said, adding that the DSS was investigating the attacks and would identify who the attackers were.