In the face of scary rumours of a planned attack on Imo State, the Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, has asked Imo people to ignore such mischievous fabrications.
The rumours have been making the rounds that hoodlums are planning attacks on some institutions and Government facilities in the State. On Saturday, a video surfaced from a muffled voice that an attack was imminent on the Assumpta Catholic Cathedral, Owerri, on Sunday.
But the Governor has dismissed such rumours as unfounded.
In a Press Release signed by his Media Adviser/Chief Press Secretary, Oguwike Nwachuku, Uzodimma assuaged the fears of Imo people on Sunday, May 23, 2021 after a Church Service at the Government House Chaplaincy in Owerri, Imo State.
He noted : “Rumours have been making the rounds of late that some unscrupulous elements are planning attacks on some public and private establishments in the State such that nothing will remain after the attacks.”
But Uzodimma said that such rumours were designed to put fears in the mind of Imo people and assured that no such thing would happen. It is, at best, scare-mongering, security sources, also, confirmed to this magazine.
Re-confirming, Uzodinma emphasised:
“Imo people and residents should go about their businesses without fear of molestation or harassment. What happened in the past weeks will never repeat itself.”
Governor Uzodimma seized the opportunity to reiterate his earlier stand that those perpetrating the violence and evil in Imo State are mostly not Igbo people but hired mercenaries.
He insisted that the Government, under his watch, will not allow those who visited mayhem on the people to operate again in Imo State.
His words: “We will crush anybody that attempts to cause mayhem or attack Imo people again. Government cannot surrender to blackmailers, hoodlums and perpetrators of violence who have sworn to make the State ungovernable.”
The governor reiterated that over 400 of those who carried out the threats on the State in the past have been arrested and undergoing trials in the courts, adding:
“The good thing there is that over 70 per cent of them are not Igbo. Feel free so long as you are not a criminal”.
He also advised those planning to visit the State with any form of violence to have a rethink as “Government is more than ever ready and prepared to keep Imo safe and secured.”
