Hope Uzodinma

The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), yesterday, accused Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State for joining the league of people it described as lgbo political saboteurs and enemies. MASSOB claimed the governor disappointed the Ndigbo for inviting the military to Orlu community.

A statement by its National Director of Information, Samuel Edeson, said: “MASSOB is highly disappointed in Governor Hope Uzodimma’s utterances against his own people. It is very unfortunate that a sitting governor in Igboland will descend so lowly and inferior in defence of his people because of political allegiance to the Arewa Caliphate.”

Uzodimma had on Tuesday in Abuja said that his decision to invite the military to quell the crisis in Orlu was to prevent a repeat of the scenario that played out during the recent #ENDSARS protests.

The Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) in the South-East also faulted the governor for approving military operations in Orlu, saying that his action was a clear indication of a leader “who doesn’t feel the pulse of his people to know their feelings and needs.”

A statement by its Chairman, Aloysius Attah, said: “The silence of the governors of the states in the South-East geo-political zone is not only condemnable, but goes a long way to prove the disconnect between them and the people who actually hold the sovereignty of the offices they occupy and the legitimacy from which their government derives acceptability and powers to govern.”

Also joining the fray is a civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), which has berated Uzodimma for his role in that military invasion.

In a statement signed by its National Co-ordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA, said: “Governor of Imo State, you are so wrong to have rushed to Abuja to ask the President to deploy armed soldiers and Air Force men to stage military actions in Orlu Senatorial Zone over the presence of some of your constituents who set up a platform to protect their lives and property from attacks by marauding and invading armed Fulani herdsmen.

“What you ought to have done if truly your mandate is from Imo voters is to look towards the Imo State House of Assembly to make relevant laws bringing into being, a standardised armed vigilante to work in partnership with relevant security institutions like the Army, the Police and the DSS.”