Abati: I thought I could rattle Tinubu during media chat — but he knows what he’s doing

By Chinonso Alozie

The Leadership of the Imo state Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Sunday called on the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu to intervene in the continued kidnap of catholic priests, killings in Imo state, alleging that Governor Hope Uzodimma, has lost the capacity to handle insecurity in the state.

The State Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Collins Opurozor, made this call while speaking to newsmen in Owerri, on the spate of attacks, and kidnappings of clergymen in Imo since last week.

According to the PDP, they decided to call on the president-elect, because Imo allegedly became a wasteful land.

According to them, “Part of the statement by the PDP, stated: “Traditional rulers are now brutally murdered. In some instances, they are beheaded and their bodies dumped in the streets. Judges are dragged out from their courtrooms and slaughtered like rams. In the last seven days, two Catholic priests have been abducted and their whereabouts are still unknown. Things have fallen apart, and Imo has become a wasteland!

“Before the commencement of this orgy of bloodshed, Senator Uzodinma had made a statement in Abuja, where he boasted that it was on his invitation that the full-blown military operation in Imo began. He followed it up during a meeting with leaders and stakeholders from Njaba LGA at the Government House, where he confessed that he has always told the security forces to allow him to carry out the operations by himself. Speaking the n the Igbo language, his exact words were, “Hapu nu m ka m were aka m mee”. It was in that spirit that the governor further threatened to conduct airstrikes to wipe out two locations in Njaba where he even acknowledged that innocent schoolchildren were staying. This is pathetic!

“Gentlemen of the Press, our Party has documented all these cases of extrajudicial killings and human rights abuses in the Stae and has now commenced the process of presenting them before the International Criminal Court, so that principal officials of this anti-people government can answer to their heinous crimes against humanity.

“We have also pursued this matter with the Embassies and High Commissions of all the American and European countries to ensure that a total and immediate visa ban is enforced on Senator Hope Uzodinma and officials of his regime.”

“Imo PDP urges the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to quickly intervene, upon assumption of office, to discontinue the silence of the Federal Government over Senator Uzodimma’s use of state apparatus to oppress Imo people, gag the press and crush political dissent. It is now clear that Senator Uzodimma has lost Imo State. His purchase of a few endorsements has not helped his wobbling regime. He is now desperate, running to his fellow governor for award and validation. But no matter how hard he tries, his removal from power is a decided issue. Nothing can change this.

“The President-elect must respect the decision of Imo people, and should neither hatch nor partake in any scheme to allow this unelected, unpopular, ar and widely-rejected regime to stay in power a day longer than January 15, 2024,” he said.