The Imo State government has exonerated itself of any complicity
in the recent killing of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP)
senatorial candidate for Orlu Zone and former member of
the state executive, Chief Ogbonnaya Uche (alias OGB) by
unknown assailants stating that " history will vindicate
the just".
In its first reaction since the incident, the secretary
to the state government, Nze I M O Ummunah in a letter dated
March 15 with ref:SGI/S.0005/T.1/X, entitled, " History
Will Vindicate the Just" - A Statement by Imo State Government
on the killing of Chief Ogbonnaya Uche, said the state government
is convinced that sooner rather than later the police will
unmask the killers.
The statement stressed that, since the recent murder of
OGB and the Principal Secretary to the governor, Mr Theodore
Agwatu, the state government has maintained "stoic silence
on these sad and unprecedented develoments, largely due
to the deep, devastating shock government functionaries
suffered over the killings".
In maintaining a dignified silence over the killings, the
state government said it was mindful that the provocative
and even emotional utterances from political opponents could
one way or another impact on police investigations of the
killings.
The state government regretted that " political opponents
out to make political gains unleash heinous propaganda against
the state government. Some have gone to the outright extent
of directly accusing the state government of masterminding
the killings".
Apart from the propaganda, the state government also accused
its political opponents of "unleashing a regime of hardship
on Imo citizens", stressing that some political thugs not
only vandalised NEPA's transmission cables at Agbala near
Owerri, they also pulled down the high tension tower on
the Aloji-Owerri transmission line on the governor's fund
raising night.
According to the statement, " it is a settled fact in conventional
wisdom that those who cry more than the bereaved are often
the real suspects. Again, experience has shown that in matters
like this the guilty can sometimes be so afraid, if not
jittery, that they jump the gun before the investigations
are over, just to divert the attention of police investigation.
It noted that, last friday, nine supporters of the ANPP
flagbearer in the state were arrested and arraigned in a
Magistrate Court in Owerri for possession of dangerous weapons,
adding that " we shall soon know the politicians that are
perpetrating violence in the state.
On the allegations of complicity in the killings, the state
government stressed that "her hands are absolutely clean
over these baseless allgations coming from minds under the
illusion that they will win elections through the unfortunate
killing of OGB. We remain convinced that sooner rather than
later, the police will unmask the killers of OGB and Agwatu".
