…Accuses him of N150B debt

Former Governor of Imo State, Senator Rochas Okorocha has called on the Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma to look for better projects to carry out as the sitting Governor of Imo State instead of re-commissioning the projects he did and commissioned while on seat as Governor.

This is even as he accused the Governor of owing over N150B domestic debt within one year he has held sway as the Imo State Governor.

In a release signed by Okorocha’s Adviser on media, Sam Onwuemedo and made available to Lead, the former Governor, appealed with his successor to look inwards and look for projects to carryout in Imo instead commissioning the projects he did and commissioned while on seat as the Governor in the state.

Governor Hope Uzodinma had last Friday commissioned and renamed the popular Akachi Road to Evans Enwerem Road through the Senate President Lawan.

Reacting to the commissioning, Okorocha said that the said Road was one of the major roads constructed and commissioned by his administration in 2011 and wondered why Uzodinma should however claim the construction.

Okorocha however made it clear that the essence of raising the alarm is to stop the Governor from further claiming by way of commissioning over one thousand projects his administration did while on seat as the Governor.

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A former member of the National Assembly, Athan Achonu, has accused South-East governors of trivialising the region’s security.

Achonu, who represented Imo North at the 8th Senate before he was sacked by a Court of Appeal judgment in Owerri, urged Igbo governors to take over Eastern Security Network from the Indigenous People of Biafra and reform it.

The ex- senator was reacting to the jailbreak in Owerri, as well as the attack on the Imo State Police Command headquarters and the killings in Enugu and Ebonyi States.

He said that the youths were angry with the governments because of lack of employment and business opportunities.

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Achonu, who said that he was championing a movement for Igbo billionaires to bring their investments home, said that without security and infrastructure, manufacturing businesses would not thrive in the South-East.

He said, “There is problem in Nigeria. The situation is terrible. Our economy is losing control. Unemployment rate is unbelievable. The worst hit are South-East and South-South. The youths have now been turned into Yahoo boys and drug addicts.”

“Our group will make a presentation to all the South-East governor this April on the need for Igbo billionaires to invest at home. Without local government autonomy, no true democracy will happen in Nigeria.

“South-East governors are joking with Igbo security. They are making the biggest mistake of their lives. They can take ESN and legalise it. There is no security in Nigeria. Kidnapping takes place even in Buhari’s village. Nowhere is safe in Nigeria again.”

Fugitives who escaped from the custodial centre in Owerri, the Imo capital, will be granted amnesty if they return voluntarily, the Minister of Interior, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, has said.

He said this during the inspection of the centre on Tuesday after it was attacked by unknown gunmen.

During the attack, over 1,880 inmates were said to have escaped while 36 stayed back.

According to the minister, escape from custody is unlawful, and a crime.

He explained that if those who escaped return willingly, they will be pardoned from a trial for unlawful escape.

However, they will still be made to face a trial for their actual offence and serve their jail term, if convicted.

He said, “Unlawful escape from custody is a crime but the government in its magnanimity will grant amnesty to prisoners who willfully return.

Also Read: BREAKING: Gunmen raze another Imo police station

“They will no longer be charged with an unlawful escape but only for the initial crimes that took them to prison. So we urge all escapees to return before they are caught on the run.”

The minister also described the Monday jailbreak at Owerri Correctional Center and the razing of the Imo State Police Command headquarters as the worst in the recent history of the country.

The ex-governor of Osun State who said that the attackers operated as terrorists, ordered the relocation of Owerri Recreational Club and other structures which he said were posing as a security threat to the premises of the Owerri Custodial Centre.

He said that during the EndSARS protest, custodial centres in Ondo and Osun states were attacked, while an attempt to attack that of Lagos was repelled.

He regretted the targeting of custodial centres in recent times, saying that the federal government would soon roll out adequate measures to protect them.

Aregbesola vowed that those who perpetrated the attack would be apprehended and prosecuted.