Tobi Adebayo
Imo state Governor, Hope Uzodinma has accused members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of being behind the jailbreak at Owerri Correctional Centre on Monday.
Uzodinma said this in a statement issued after he paid a visit to the prison and also the Imo State Police Command headquarters that was brunt down by the perpetrators.
The governor also said that the government was on top of the situation and urged residents not to panic.
The statement read; “I condemn in strong terms, the Monday wee-hours attacks on facilities belonging to the Police and Correctional Services in Owerri. The development is regrettable and I call for a thorough investigation into the dastardly act.
“Criminal elements claiming to be members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), had attacked the Imo State Police headquarters and Owerri Correctional Services Centre with various degrees of dangerous weapons, destroying buildings, vehicles and other sensitive official materials and unlawfully setting free inmates which the authorities said were over 1800.
“The primary aim of the IPOB members who carried out the attack was to create fears in the minds of the people and at the same time, strive to secure the release of their fellow criminals in custody.
“However, the government is on top of the situation, fully aware that the primary reason government exists is the protection of lives and property of the citizenry.
“We are on top of the situation and there is no need for undue anxiety. I have met with the heads of security agencies in the state to evaluate the incident.
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“I am confident that the situation has been brought under control as the plan of the perpetrators of the despicable atrocity which was to cause panic and fear in the State has collapsed already.
“More so, given the magnitude of the attacks, the damage done and sophisticated weapons deployed in the attack by IPOB, I have directed that a comprehensive investigation into the situation be carried out with a view to establishing the faces behind the heinous crime.
“Therefore, I urge Imo citizens and visitors alike to go about their normal businesses without fear of molestation as the government is abreast of the situation and will do all within her behest to protect the lives and property of residents.
“May I seize this opportunity to advise parents to rein in their wards and resist the temptation of being used as cannon fodder in a war of attrition being orchestrated by desperate politicians hiding behind criminal elements.”
