The Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma, has reiterated the need to restore peace and put an end to insurgency in the South-East, while echoing calls for the extradition of Finland-based separatist Simon Ekpa over the illegal Monday sit-at-home order.
This came a day after the Senate condemned the order under the enforcement of a faction of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), appealing to the Federal Government to collaborate with the Finnish Government to extradite Ekpa to Nigeria for prosecution.
Uzodimma’s revealed his position on Friday during a familiarisation visit from the new General Officer Commanding 82 Division, Enugu, Major General Hassan Dada, at the Government House in Owerri, the Imo State capital.
“What is topmost in our cases is this popular sit-at-home order. There’s one man called Simon Ekpa somewhere in Finland,” he said.
“It is our hope that the security agencies, particularly the military, working with the Federal Government, will be able to either bring Simon Ekpa back to Nigeria to also sit at home with us or be made to face the wrath of the law.”
He also spoke on the negative effect of the illegal sit-at-home orders, promising the new GOC and his team his support and that of the people of Imo State.
In a similar vein, the governor met with traditional rulers and community leaders at the headquarters of the Traditional Rulers Council in Owerri where he called for their support in stemming the tide of insecurity and supporting the government and security agencies in fighting crime.
He urged them to shun any sit-at-home order and go about their lawful businesses.
The governor also used the opportunity to disclose the numerous intervention programmes and incentives lined up from the state and federal governments to cushion the economic effects of the fuel subsidy removal.
These two important meetings came a few hours after the leader of the Proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, through his counsel, directed Simon Ekpa to refrain from issuing any sit-at-home order in the South-East under any guise.
In his remarks, Major General Dada gave an assurance that all non-state actors would be pursued and all forms of criminality stamped out in the region forthwith.
He noted that he had received a marching order from the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Taoreed Lagbaja, to end insecurity in the South-East without further delay.
While emphasising that his team would do all it takes to ensure that peace returns to the South-East, he appealed for the support of the Imo governor and indigenes of the state to achieve this feat.
