Former Imo Governor Rochas Okorocha has appealed to the youths to stop spilling blood in the state.
He made the appeal on Wednesday at Eziama-Obaire, Nkwerre Local Government Area of Imo State during the burial of the mother of his son-in-law, late Ezinne Jemaimah Adanweze Nwosu.
He urged the Imo youths to stop killings no matter the cause of their anger.
“I know there is no job, many are unemployed, but stop spilling the blood of your brothers and sisters no matter the cause of your anger.
“I do not subscribe to bloodletting,” he pleaded.
He said the killings in the state were so frightening that nobody would want to visit Imo without second thoughts.
“I know of six governors that wanted to come to Imo State, senators and ministers who wanted to come for the burial, but they could not come because of the situation in the state.
“I want to appeal to you, this killing must stop,” he said.
He asked youths to stop venting their anger on traditional rulers because of the failure of governance in the state.
Many monarchs have been kidnapped or killed in the state this month.
Okorocha urged youths to wait till 2023 to vote out bad governance through the electoral process.
Weeping, he said that the current Imo was not the state he governed for eight years and handed over in 2019.
Okorocha said: “This is not the Imo I used to know. This is not the Imo I was governor for, for eight years.
“I don’t support violence but I support protest through a proper channel.
“I urge you to wait till 2023 and use your PVC to vote out bad governance.
“Six governors called me and told me that they wanted to be here for the funeral but I told them for them to be here they must have to move about in Amorured Personnel Carriers and hence they couldn’t afford it, they stayed back in their respective states.”
Okorocha said that Imo was “gradually turning to Afghanistan”, urging priests to pray for the safety of the state.
He also consoled his son-in-law Ugwumba Uche Nwosu, urging him not to mourn over the death of his mother.
“I share your sorrow, cry no more but rather rejoice for Mama has brought up her family,” he said.
Nwosu recalled how his late mother single-handedly brought up her children without her husband who died leaving the whole family under the care of their mother.
“I appreciate our in-laws, the clergy, friends and well-wishers who stood by us from the beginning till today with their prayers, words of encouragements and financial support,” he said.
In his sermon, the Lord Bishop of Orlu Diocese, Benjamin Okeke, urged the family of the deceased to take solace in the Lord who will not abandon them.
He advised that all should repent because death could come at any time.
“Remember there is a day of reckoning when God will ask us what we have done with the life He has given us,” he said.
