The World Igbo Congress, WIC, has proposed that the Imo State House of Assembly should commence impeachment proceedings against Governor Hope Uzodimma for his alleged complexity in the killing of 14 young men at Awomama in Oru East local government area on July 17, 2022.
WIC threatened that should the House of Assembly members fail to commence the impeachment proceedings on Uzodimma, they will ask the lawmakers’ constituents to commence their recall from the Assembly, separately and jointly.
In a statement it released yesterday, the Chairman of WIC, Prof. Anthony Ejiofor; and the group’s Public Relations Officer, Basil Onwukwe stated that the WIC noted with dismay, the massacre of 14 young Igbo men in Awomama, Imo State by agents of the state.
It also stated that much of the killings in the state had been by the military and state security agents, but now the Ebubeagu outfit at the behest of the Imo State government under the APC administration, recalling that many youths in the Orlu area especially have been killed since the inauguration of Mr. Hope Uzodimma as the governor of Imo state.
It stated that Imo State used to be the safest, and most peaceful state in Nigeria and the southeast in particular until the Uzodimma administration, but that the height of dark clouds in the state was with the massacre of 14 innocent citizens of Otulu who were returning from a sacred tradition of marriage in Awomama.
The WIC took offence at the characterization of the victims as bandits, stating that the labelling offends the sensibilities of the Igbo at home and certainly in the Diaspora, who have watched Mr. Uzodimma’s style of governance closely, from inception till date and see its unmistakable anti-Igbo stand in everything.
“World Igbo Congress believes that “nmanwu adighi eti onwe ya”. If you are the governor of Imo State, you are the leader of a group of Ndi Igbo who happens to be Imolites. You cannot orchestrate the demands and wishes of those who want to annihilate the Igbo.
We have noted the ultimatum issued by the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, COSEYL, calling for the immediate resignation of the Governor of Imo State over these killings and the immediate dismantling of Ebubeagu, which, in any case, is an ill-motivated and ill-intentioned security outfit not belonging to the Igbo.
We note that no proper Act of the Imo State Assembly established this outfit or its proper legal instrument of governance.