Okorocha sliding to tyranny – Imo leaders

Across section of social and cultural leaders of Imo State, resident in Abuja, yesterday, lampooned Governor Rochas Okorocha over the recent demolition of the Ekeukwu Owerri market, saying he has derailed from his core mandate and is now sliding into tyranny.

The Imo State government reportedly rolled in bulldozers into the over 200-year-old market and reduced it to rubble, leading to the death of 10-year-old Somtochukwu Igboanusi, who was allegedly gunned down when he tried to clear wares from his father’s shop.

But even as the state government said it had given the traders notice of relocation to a new site just outside the state capital, Chief Sam Obaji, who spoke on behalf of the leaders, at a press conference in Abuja, said Okorocha was behaving like an emperor.

“We gave him a mandate thinking he had good intentions for the people of Imo, but right now, there is no more ‘my people my people’ because the governor is sliding into tyranny.”

He said under Okorocha, Imo State Government was sending struggling families to severe poverty and misery through bad governance.

“By refusing counsel, rejecting court injunctions and going ahead to carry out the demolition of a market that had being in existence before independence in 1960, the Imo State Government has provoked the anger of the people and threatened the peace of the state,” he said.

He called on President Muhammadu Buhari to institute a judicial commission of inquiry into the circumstances that led to the alleged use of armed forces personnel during the demolition.