Saturday’s avoidable loss of lives of innocent and hapless indigenes of Imo State at the forceful relocation of a market in Owerri, the capital of Imo State was a mere crystallisation of the brutal force with which Governor Rochas Okorocha is administering governance in the state writes Ifeanyi Onumadu, our reporter.
The news media was awash last Saturday (August 26, 2017) with the news of civilian deaths as a result of the forceful relocation of Eke Onunwa market also known as Eke Ukwu Owerri in the heart of Owerri, the Imo State capital.
Days after that event, NewsBitsng.com reporter who monitored the inhuman treatment of citizens by Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, has said that officers and men of the Nigerian army still harass innocent residents who use Douglas Road through Ama JK and its environs.
According to him, the army currently subjects people using the area to raise their hands in total surrender manner before they are allowed to use Douglas Road, which is one of the busiest roads in the hitherto peaceful city. Residents of the city, who exclusively spoke with our reporter said the calamity, which claimed innocent lives could have been avoidable if Governor Rochas, applied wisdom rather than brute force on his people.
One of the speakers who preferred anonymity has this to say, “You can see for yourself how Governor Rochas is treating his own citizens – killing them because they are helpless. You are a journalist; I would want you to make your inquiries and tell me how many Lagos State indigenes Babatunde Raji Fashola, the former Governor of Lagos State killed in the name of relocating a market. Only recently, the incumbent Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode relocated the famous Alade Market in the heart of Ikeja not even a dog was killed not to talk of human beings.
“That is why people do not like Rochas Okorocha. He is power-drunk and thinks that the wealth of Imo State belongs to him and members of his family. I will not be surprised if whatever will spring up in that parcel of land some months down the line would belong to Rochas and or his proxies. It was shameful that a governor who is supposed to be the number one Chief Security Officer of Imo State was the one who led the squad killing Imo State people.”
Although the Governor who granted media interview that day claimed that the market has over the years become the hub of ritual killers, drug baron and peddlers among all sorts of vices, Imo citizens believe their Governor has ulterior motives.
