The Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma, has claimed most of the killings and attacks on security agents in the state are caused by bandits.
Uzodinma stated that the wave of banditry is not only perculiar to his state but across the country, saying that the activities of the bandits in Imo are politically motivated.
Speaking in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday night, the governor attributed the attacks on security personnel and residents to political bitterness.
He disclosed that the residents supported the attacks on security agents when they started in 2020 until the gunmen started killing the people.
The governor, however, said his government is getting close to a final solution to the issues of banditry, kidnapping and other crimes in the state.
He said, “It is not limited to Imo State alone… You can see the wave of banditry in the country today; there is banditry in the northern part of the country, banditry in the southern part of the country, also banditry in the eastern part of the country. But there are peculiarities state by state.
“Some of these crimes are being supported. Recall that two years ago when this started in Imo State, when the bandits attacked police stations, as they were leaving the scene of crime, people would be clapping for them. People would be laughing with them. The people took this thing as a form of entertainment.
“But incrementally, lives were lost. Incrementally, assets were destroyed. Incrementally, police stations were burnt down. Individual homes, some targeted politicians…their houses were burnt.
“So, we took personal interests to begin to investigate the reasons behind these. I told you times without number in Imo State, some of the cases of banditry here are politically contrived. Some are real attacks by bandits.
“So, I think that the kind of politics with bitterness that is going on in the state and some parts of these regions should really be condemned. That is why we have decided to embark on both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches. We’ve engaged community leaders, we’ve engaged vigilante approach, we’ve engaged people in dialogues, getting traditional leaders to embark on reconciliation, addressing the political grievances of some politicians who have not been able to manage the defeat of losses from the last election.
“But we are on it. I think we are getting close to a final solution to the issues of banditry, kidnapping and these sorts of crime in Imo State.”
