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Police launch manhunt for arsonists
Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State on Saturday said “political bandits” were responsible for the burning of the country home of the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Prof. George Obiozor.
Obiozor’s residence at Awo-Omanma in the Oru East Local Government Area of Imo State was attacked by gunmen who threw explosive devices inside the building on Saturday morning.
It was learnt that Obiozor was not at home when his house was attacked.
Uzodimma in a statement in Owerri, the state capital, which he personally signed, said it was a shame that some politicians in the state could target such a person’s house for arson.
He described the attack on the country home of Obiozor as cowardly and height of desperation.
He said government was already working in concert with security agencies to identify and punish the perpetrators.
He bemoaned the incessant resort to violence in settling political differences by some politicians in the state and warned that the government would no longer condone such banditry.
The governor said, “The time of those who unleashed this kind of mayhem in the state is over. We shall hunt them down to face the full weight of the law.
Uzodimma wondered why the bandits should attack the home of a man who is not a politician but a statesman working for the good of the entire Igbo race.
He said it was shameful that both the sponsors and perpetrators of the violence deployed their malicious attack on an innocent man.
While commiserating with Obiozor on the burning of his home, he assured Imo people that government would continue to do all within its constitutional power to protect lives and property in the state.
Meanwhile, the state Police Command has commenced investigation into the attack on Obiozor’s country home.
A source told our correspondent that closed circuit television cameras captured the arson, noting that Obiozor was not at home when the gunmen struck.
Confirming the incident, the spokesman for the police in the state, Michael Abattam, said the command had launched a manhunt for the perpetrators of the crime.
He said the Commissioner of Police in the state, Rabiu Hussaini, had ordered an immediate investigation into the incident and with a mandate that the suspects must be apprehended immediately.
According to Abattam, there was no casualty during the attack.
“The attack on Prof George Obiozor’s country home in the Oru East Local Government Area is confirmed. There was no casualty. Investigation has commenced, immediately,” he said.
Sunday PUNCH gathered that Obiozor was not at home when his house was attacked.
A source said, “The country home of Prof George Obiozor was burnt last night. The CCTV cameras captured the attack. Thank God Prof was not at home when they came.”
Obiozor had yet to respond to an inquiry concerning the attack, but one of the leaders of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he had called Obiozor to commiserate with him on the incident.
He called on the police to fish out those who carried out this arson.
The attack on Obiozor’s country home came the same night that the Umuguma Divisional Police Headquarters in the Owerri West Local Government Area of the state was burnt with two police constabularies killed and cars burnt.
‘Imo cop shot by hoodlums died while drinking water’
Umuguma Police Station in Owerri West council area came under attack on the same day, killing two officers on duty.
According to an eyewitness, who narrated the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria but pleaded anonymity, the hoodlums came in two Toyota Hilux vehicles and attacked the station with an explosive device.
The source said two officers were seen dead at the station after the attackers left for an unknown destination.
He further narrated that while one of the officers was killed and cut with a machete, the other victim died at a water dispensing stand where he went to drink water after he was shot in one of his legs while trying to escape.
A NAN reporter, who visited the scene, confirmed that no fewer than 12 vehicles parked at the police station and the roof of the station were burnt by the explosives used in attacking the station.
Confirming the incident, the spokesman of Imo State Police Command, Michael Abattam, said the hoodlums were repelled by the officers on guard
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