By Gideon Njoku
The Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, has declared that peace has returned to Imo State.
The IGP’s declaration brought smiles and made not a few Imolites heave a heavy sigh of relief.
In the past recent weeks, Imo State which was, unarguably, the most peaceful and safest State in Nigeria descended into anarchy, climbed the ladder quickly, and became one of the unsafest States in Nigeria.
The State was immersed in killings by those quickly dubbed unknown men. They killed and maimed and destroyed. They set Government facilities, including Correctional Centres, Police facilities, including the Headquarters of the State Police Command on fire. They released hundreds of Prisoners and other detainees, most of them condemned murderers and hardened criminals. And they looted Police facilities and killed Policemen in their numbers. And so were Military men killed. Civilians were not spared.
They, also set fire on INEC facilities. They were brazen, and paraded the streets of Owerri in broad daylight.
One of their most spectacular outings was the invasion of the country home of the Governor of the State, Hope Uzodimma. They torched a part of the buildings in his premises and destroyed cars. As if those were not enough, a Security guard was killed.
One of the most high profile killings was that of a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Ahmed Gulak, a Lawyer.
Gulak, a native of Adamawa, former Speaker of the Adamawa House of Assembly, and former Political Adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan, was in the State on an official visit with members of the Senate Committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution.
On his way to the Imo Airport to board a flight back to Abuja, he was shot dead – a couple of Kilometres to the Airport.
People were afraid to visit Imo. Owerri, the hub of the hospitality industry and entertainment, died an untimely death. Nobody dared stay out after 6.00pm.
Even then, a couple of people were dragged out of their homes, and killed. Nobody could say exactly those behind the atrocities.
While some people blamed it on the Eastern Security Network, ESN, the militant wing of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, others blamed it on disgruntled politicians who had sworn to make Imo ungovernable.
But no longer.
After the rain comes shine. The storm seems over. All has quietened down, gradually. And life has returned to the State.
What happened?
IGP Baba gives the credit to Governor Uzodimma. He said the Governor’s steadfastness, and courage and support, gave the Police and other Security agencies the confidence to go after the criminals and rout them.
He spoke Friday, July 2, 2021, in Owerri, the Imo State capital when he paid a courtesy call on the Governor shortly after commissioning the Headquarters of Operation Search and Flush located on Owerri/Aba road.
According to a release by the Governor’s Media Adviser/ Chief Press Secretary, Oguwike Nwachuku, Baba said Imo State was in the news for the wrong reason recently. But noted that Governor Uzodimma’s support to the Police not only helped to restore the confidence of the officers and men, but went a long way in aiding the quick return of peace to the state.
He thanked the Governor for keying into his Operation Restore Peace by recognising that policing is not all about manpower alone but about tools, equipment and strategic planning.
The IGP praised the Governor for procuring critical tools for Operation Search and Flush such as Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC), pick up vans and also equipping the office with State of the art communication gadgets that will help the arms bearing security agencies involved in the exercise to discharge their duties confidently.
“With the conducive atmosphere like the one I just commissioned as office space, the tools available to the operatives and the cooperation of all security agencies, I am not surprised that the narrative has changed in Imo State,” Baba explained and lauded Governor Uzodimma for making the jobs of his personnel easy.
The IGP who also joined Governor Uzodimma to hand over Cheques to the next of kin of 21 officers and men of the Imo State Police Command who lost their lives while fighting the bandits recently said the N5million given to each of the deceased family will go a long way in assisting the families they left behind.
Welcoming Baba to Imo State, Governor Uzodimma thanked the police chief for supporting the State Government in its efforts to bring peace back to the state.
The Governor specifically thanked Baba for eliminating the initial rivalry between security agencies, saying that his regime has witnessed a collaboration between the security agencies that is yielding positive result.
Governor Uzodimma however assured the Police Chief of the preparedness of his government to continue to support all the security agencies in Imo State so that they can play the role of keeping the peace already achieved in addition to securing the people and maintaining law and order.
He also announced that the Government will give all the police divisions in the State some amount to enable the leadership rise to the ocassion of deepening the peace that had been achieved in Imo State.
The IGP was accompanied on the visit by a Deputy Inspector General of Police, an Assistant Inspector General of Police, Police commissioners and other principal officers in his office.
