Anthony Iwuoma
The accusations and counter accusations, regarding spiraling violence in Imo State has taken a new twist as former Governor Rochas Okorocha has accused the state governor, Hope Uzodinma, of running a killer squad, called Hopism Strike Force (HSF.)
According to Okorocha, who addressed journalists at his his Owerri residence, the strike force, comprising the military, police, DSS and Ebubeagu security outfit, is responsible for the ongoing carnage in the state.
“If the governor knows he has no such force in the state, let him tell the world who killed Gulak.
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“It is not about me or Uche Nwosu; it is about the image of our state. I want to repeat this, Sheba, Uzodimma’s CSO, has been in detention for the past four days. He is among the strike force of Uzodimma. I still ask Uzodimma, who killed Gulak? Who killed traditional rulers? Who killed about 140 bodies of Imolites found in the mortuary? Hope Uzodimma has a strike force, called ‘Hope Strike Force’. They should ask them what they are doing with this killer squad.”
Governor Uzodinma had denied the allegations though but Sen. Okorocha challenged him to name sponsors of insecurity in the state.
The former governor, now a senator representing Imo West in the National Assembly, bemoaned the loss of lives and properties in the state since the coming to power of the Uzodimma-led administration.
He said, “This never happened for the eight years that I ruled this state,” adding that the governor dashed the expectations of the people when he avoided mentioning the sponsors of banditry, kidnapping, killing and all forms of mayhem in the state.
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Okorocha said Governor Uzodinma’s government was clueless and insensitive to the people, as manifested in the rising rate of killings and recent ‘kidnap’ of his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, in a church, adding that he had nothing to hide.
“My legacies are all over the place and would ever remain indelible and cannot be erased because they are very clear,” he said.
Sen. Okorocha, therefore, called on President Muhammadu Buhari, the Inspector General of Police and other security chiefs in the country to intervene in the security crisis in Imo State.
Refuting talks that he plans to dump the All Progressives Congress, APC, Okorocha retorted: “How can I build a house, furnish it and abandon it for a tenant? I was one of those who formed the APC and Governor Hope Uzodimma only came in through the window. So, I cannot leave the party for him.”
Reacting to the allegations, Governor Uzodimma said Sen. Okorocha was being paranoid, adding that he must have something to hide that would soon be exposed.
Speaking through his Commissioner for Information and Strategy Declan Emelumba, the governor said: “If he is not paranoid, why panic, what has he to hide? If Okorocha knows that the governor has a killer squad known as Hopism Strike Force, why wait until now that public searchlight is on you and son-in-law to start exposing the killer squad?
“If you say that the governor has a killer squad, the best place to report is the police, not the press. I believe the Okorocha has something he is hiding and sooner than later, it will be exposed.”