GOVERNOR Hope Uzodinma says he can not guarantee security in the state alone.
Uzodinma told reporters after meeting with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday that stakeholders, including traditional, religious, and political leaders, must interact more with the people to restore normalcy in the troubled state.
Former political office holders, he claims, have issues to answer if they fail to speak out against the activities of troublemakers.
“If they speak out against the unwholesome activities of those destabilising the country, things would be different,” he said, adding that he was at the Villa to brief the President on the situation in the state.
While recognising that things aren’t going well in the country, the governor warned that individuals who destroy government property should expect to pay a price.
Despite the fact that insecurity exists throughout Nigeria, he added that the authorities in Imo were doing their utmost to address the matter.
“So far, the situation is relatively okay in Imo State than it was. People can come around and do business. Normal life has resumed in the state. Security agencies are on top of the situation,” he said.
The governor brushed off claims that his recent statements prohibiting conversation were contributing to the state’s seemingly hopeless position.
His words: “That is their thinking. I don’t know the kind of utterance that I have made that suggests that I closed the door. I closed no door. If you have monitored what is going on in Imo of late, you would have seen me receiving leadership by leadership according to the local council, trying to find a common way of resolving these security challenges in the state.
“It is not only Imo that has security challenges. In fact, I can even tell you that Imo’s case is better, apart from one or two cases that involved Very Important Personalities (VIPs). There has never been a time 20 persons died simultaneously or school children were kidnapped, and all that.”
On why it was difficult for him to reveal names of politicians behind the insecurity in the state and get them arrested, he said: “It is not only in Imo; I didn’t limit it to Imo. I’m saying, and I’ll say it again, that the opposition party’s and some disgruntled MPs’ positions haven’t helped incidents of insecurity here and there in the country.”
Anyone who is worth his onions as a leader, he believes, should be able to speak up.
“How many of them are speaking out? How many of them are condemning what is going on? Rather, what you see are leaders fanning the embers of insecurity, blaming the only government.”
