BY SEGUN ADEBAYO, ABUJA – Governor Hope of Uzodinma of Imo State has declared that Nigeria’s security challenges have not been helped by the disposition of the opposition and the refusal by prominent people to speak against violence ripping across the country.
Speaking to State House correspondents after paying a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, the governor said he cannot guarantee security in the state if left alone.
In his words: “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.”
Uzodinma declared that former political office holders, who fail to speak against the activities of trouble-makers, have questions to answer.
“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”, he said.
Despite the insecurity in various parts of the country, the governor reiterated that the authorities in Imo were doing their best to tackle the situation, adding, “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”.
Dismissing allegations that his refusal to embrace dialogue was fueling in Imo State, Uzodinma noted, “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 when 20 persons died simultaneously or school children were kidnapped, and all that.”
Uzodimma told newsmen that there was a need for traditional, religious and political leaders to engage with people in order to restore normalcy in the state.
