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Only AA can redeem Imo, now a killing field – Ogunewe *Receives more endorsements

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Lincoln Keyonemere Jack Ogunewe, has promised to rid Imo States of bloodthirsty elements who have turned it into a killing field in recent years, saying the November 11th governorship election would be another watershed that would determine its fate.

Ogunewe, a retired General and candidate of the Action Alliance (AA), who spoke while receiving the leadership of the Imo State Redemption Group (ISRG) made up of the 27 local government area coordinators and woman leaders in his Reset Imo Campaign Office, located at Port Harcourt Road, Owerri, Imo State on Tuesday 8th August, 2023, promised to tackle the menace without fear.

Bemoaning the orgy of violence accentuated by bad governance which has turned Imo villages into extra-judicial killing fields thus making it an easy theatre of assassinations, arson and mayhem, he frowned at the ugly situation where Imo villages were now deserted, with children abandoning school in many of them, saying they posed enough concerns that demanded quick attention.

Maintaining that the restoration of peace to ensure security of life and property remained the primary responsibility of government, he went debunked the impression now being spread that the state was in good hands, describing it as propaganda, adding that the contrary was the case, as the situation had now worsened to the extent that many families, were now burying their deceased ones in foreign lands for fear of being killed in their villages. While stressing that dialogue and negotiation remained key to solving security challenges, he urged every Imo indigene and residents alike to support the party in the November polls, stating: “We will not act cowardly. I will campaign everywhere. Insecurity will not deter us … I will ensure that every single vote counts and is protected … What is motivating me to run is the suffering of the masses, lack of justice, and fairness.”

Cautioning the electorate to beware of cloners, whose merchandise was in cloning other people’s hard earned identity, he said: “There is only one General in the race, and that is, Maj. Gen. Jack Lincoln Keonyemere Ogunewe Rtd. Peter Obi is not contesting the Imo governorship election and should not be dragged to it.”

The leader of the delegation, Comrade Stanley Igbo, who said he appreciated the decision of the Ogunewe to contest the election to redeem the situation of the impoverished, less privileged, insecure, and other ordinary Imo citizens and its occupants in the state, highlighted the efforts of the group in mobilisation and sensitisation and promised to explore other strategies to ensure the victory of AA in the 306 electoral wards of the state, adding that his adoption was based on his credibility, capability, integrity, emotional intelligence, and confidence.

In their contributions, the delegation, including the coordinators of the three senatorial districts in the state also took time to eulogise the charismatic qualities of the AA candidate, saying he was the best man for the task of redeeming state from the suffering they had encountered over the recent years.

Uche Eze, Director General of the campaign organisation, who appreciated the efforts of the group, promising to engage them fully during and after the campaign, expressed optimism to the victory of the retired general.

On his part, the Deputy Governorship candidate, CMC Onuoha, who expressed delight that that such a group, existed advised that restoring peace, progress, and unity in the state must be prioritised above money politics, imploring the electorates to view themselves as being in the race as it could only be by a concerted effort that victory could be guaranteed.

Hillary Nwauzoije, Publicity Secretary of the group, while stating that the ISRG, convened by Hardy Biaduo, was none partisan, stressed that being an apolitical pressure group, its goal included, leadership and mentoring, advocacy for good governance, organisation of empowerment programmes for the youths, women and the less privileges, as well as advocacy for equity and justice for all, adding that it also had numerous members in the diaspora.

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Imo massacre: Armoured vehicles procured for police used to rig elections – LP

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Labour Party, palpably in anguish at the slaughter of eight soldiers in Imo State on Tuesday by some rampaging gunmen, has raised questions over the whereabouts of the nine Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) Athan Achonu, it claimed its governorship candidate for the November 11 election, repaired and donated to the authorities in the state.

The party, all but called out the leadership of the Imo State Police Command, to whom they claimed the equipment were handed over, alleging that the last time they APCs were seen was during the last general elections, where they were used by members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party in power in the state to snatch ballot boxes for candidates in the national and state assemblies.

The claim, was made when Nick Opara-Ndudu  and Nnaemeka Onyeka Obiareri , chieftains of the party appeared as guests on The Morning Show, a breakfast programme on Arise Television to sell the candidacy of Achonu, whom they said would never have allowed the type of insecurity in the state to endure under his watch.

Both men, who said that Achonu, whose highest political office so far, was his short stint in the Senate, where he served via the 2015 election before he was removed through the courts, remained the only solution not to the insecurity, in the state and even the South East,  but the one to rescue the people from years of underdevelopment from poor leadership.

Obiareri, spokesman of the LP in the state, argued that if the APCs had been in place, Tuesday’s incident in which the military men were killed alongside some policemen and officials of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), would probably not have happened, said a check on the social media would reveal how they were used by party men of the APC for rigging the 2023 general elections.

He said: “The military men that were killed if they had armoured vehicles patrolling, they wouldn’t have been shot by those criminals. Athan Achonu, go and confirm from Innoson, paid hundreds of millions of naira to Innoson, Innoson is still alive, you people can still go and interview him, to repair nine armoured vehicles for the police. Five were supposed to be in Okigwe zone. Till today, we don’t know where those nine armoured cars are.

“If you go to Youtube, you’ll see Youtube record of members of the House of Assembly in Imo State using those APCs to carry ballot boxes. It’s there on Youtube, you can search it out. What Athan Achonu will do is very simple. Every local government area will have one humvy vehicle for the police. Police stations had been totally burnt in Imo State and Athan repaired most of those police stations.

“Then, there will be community vigilante. We’ll train those 50 youths per community – train them, equip them and arm them. They should guard their communities. When you have over 50,000 hectres of land, reclaimed from the bandits, and you have youths who are not only just farming, but who are trained to protect their communities, they’ll do the job.

“Then, we have to set up a security trust fund. Ndi-Imo are not scared. As at today, there are some communities in Imo State, where bandits – unknown gunmen, are ransacking and collecting levies from the communities. Basically, Athan Achonu will provide training, recruitment for people donated by the communities. Communities know those who are the terrible ones in their midst. And I tell you, in six months, they will flush them out.”

Opara-Ndudu, who dismissed the claim by the state governor, Hope Uzodimma that the carnage and other killings in the state were politically-motivated, blamed the governor for misplacing his priorities and failing to provide jobs for the teeming youth population in the state, questioning why nobody had been arrested and prosecuted fully in the courts if the insecurity in the state was all about politics.

Hear him: “The security problem has to do with objective conditions in the state. The young people are frustrated. The government is not making any investments in the areas that are required. We’re busy pursuing projects that are designs in deception. Look at the roads that are being done in Imo State, you know for you to deal with the problem of poverty and other economic challenges, you have to deal with the problem of infrastructure.

“In Imo State, the government has dedicated all of its time and half of its time to reconstructing federal roads without any attention – little or no attention paid to the rural areas. If you go to length and breadth of Imo State – Ngor Okpala, Ezinifte Mbaise, even in the governor’s local government – everywhere in Imo State, you find that the rural areas are looking desolate and abandoned.”

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Police find body of missing female student dumped in the bush, vow to get killers

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Operatives of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), command, have vowed to fish out the killers of a university student, Blessing Karami, whose body was said to have been picked up from the bush days after she was declared missing on September 11.

The FCT police, which released the painful news on Thursday, said in a statement by its spokesman, Josephine Adeh that the remains were found in the woods in the Karimu area of the city.

The police spokesman acknowledged that her disappearance was reported to the police authorities last,  Thursday, September 14 added that 26-year-old Blessing, a student of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), was declared missing after leaving her place of work in Garki, Abuja.

She said in the statement: “The body of Blessing Karami Moses, a 26-year-old woman who had been missing since September 11, 2023, was tragically discovered in a wooded area in Karimo. Her disappearance was reported to the authorities on September 14, 2023,” the statement read.

She said Commissioner of Police, FCT, Haruna Garba, had directed that command should conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident, adding: “While we are working closely with the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) to facilitate the respectful retrieval of the decomposed remains acknowledging the sensitive nature of this task, we will continue to provide updates to the public as our investigation progresses.”

Adeh, a Superintendent of Police (SP), also commiserated with Blessing’s family and loved ones over the incident.

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Ogun cult massacre: DSS raid home, pick up PDP lawmaker, five others

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Damilare Bello Mohammed, a serving member of the Ogun State House of Assembly (OGHA), is currently telling operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) his side of the story, after he was picked up over his alleged involvement in the rival secret cult clashes that occurred in Sagamu town.

Mohammed, recently elected on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to represent Sagamu State Constituency 1, was picked up on Wednesday by the agency over the incident in which at least eight persons were killed last weekend during the violent clash in the town, alongside five other suspected cultists allegedly involved in the cult violence.

The five other suspects; Debbo Animashaun, Bamidele Saheed, Ismaila Onitire, Adewale Otesanya and Tobi Owoade, were arrested by the DSS operatives during a sting operation after a tip-off at the early hours of Thursday within the residence of the lawmaker.

Lekan Adeniran, spokesman to Dapo Abiodun, the Ogun State governor, announced the development in a statement on Wednesday, saying the secret police tracked the six suspected cultists to the official residence of the lawmaker.

Accusing the lawmaker of providing shelter to the cultists, Adeniran, said in the statement, that the suspects were presently undergoing interrogation in DSS custody after many dangerous weapons, including guns, were recovered from them.

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