Politics
Gov Uzodinma threatens to dethrone Imo monarchs over insecurity
The Imo State governor, Hope Uzodinma, on Thursday threatened to dethrone traditional rulers over rising violence in the state.
The governor stated this at a stakeholders meeting held in Owerri, the state capital.
The meeting was attended by the new Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 9, Umuahia, Ekim Okon, and heads of other security agencies in the state.
Uzodinma, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Placid Njoku, urged the monarchs to start taking responsibilities for activities in their domains.
He also challenged the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Students’ Union Government (SUG), and market unions to join the government in fighting crimes in the state.
Uzodinma said: “Insecurity is one thing the state government takes seriously since we came to power. There is no alternative to security. The issue of security is very central to this government. We must ensure that Imo State is secured.
READ ALSO: Aggrieved politicians behind Imo attacks – Gov Uzodinma
“To interact among ourselves and assign responsibilities to ourselves is the main focus of this meeting. We must call ourselves to order. If you are a traditional ruler, what is your role in regards to security? If you are Chairman of CAN, what is your role as regards to security?
“These people who are cultists, rapists, drug addicts, and all of them live in your communities, our traditional rulers. The Imo State government has resolved to depose any traditional ruler who fails to check insecurity in his domain.
“What must a traditional ruler do in securing his community? A traditional ruler must have a system to check insecurity. Who goes out and who comes in, in his community should be his priority. If every traditional ruler does his job well this insecurity will abate.”
Imo and other states in the South-East have been rocked by violence in the last few weeks with hoodlums and other criminals attacking police formations and other public facilities in the region.
The criminals had attacked two divisional police headquarters in Anambra and Enugu States this week.
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