Former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, has implicated poverty and injustice in the reign of attacks on government assets in Imo State.
The State Police Command and The Correctional facility in Owerri were attacked, burnt and the inmates freed.
Another attack on Mbiere Police Station was also reported on the heels of last Monday’s attacks.
Okorocha, who cautioned against politicising the security challenges in the state in an interview with journalists, blamed the attacks on poverty and injustice.
Briefing journalists, on Thursday in Jos, the ex-governor who represents Imo West Senatorial District, called on the government to urgently address the issues before it escalates.
“The recent attack on the police headquarters, the Correctional Centres in Imo State, the unending herdsmen crisis and banditry, Boko Haram, kidnappings, these are all products of poverty and injustice,” he said.
According to him: “Time has come for us, as political leaders, to tell ourselves the truth and address this ugly situation and help our men and women of the Armed Forces and the police who are fighting the symptoms and not the disease. Something must be done urgently too.”
The ex-governor also condemned the senseless killings, adding that “life is sacred and no human has the right to take another person’s life.”
The gunmen who stormed the security agencies on April 5 set the facilities ablaze.
During the attack, one person suspected to be a fleeing inmate was hit by a bullet while carrying his travel bag.
His lifeless body was visibly seen on the ground in front of the correctional centre.
The gunmen also razed the Imo State Police Command headquarters situated in Owerri and burnt almost all the vehicles parked at the command headquarters.
They were said to have operated from 1:00 am till 3:00 am during which they sang solidarity songs at the Government House Roundabout for about 30 minutes before attacking the facilities.
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