Save Us From Gov Okorocha- Owerri Indigenes Beg Buhari

A group, under the umbrella of Concerned Owerri Indigenes, has petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari accusing the Imo state governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha of victimising the indigenes of

Owerri by demolishing several buildings in the old Owerri city while nothing was being built. In the petition, the group argued that the governor’s intention to expand or turn roads and streets in the old
Owerri City into dual carriageways is an act in bad faith as the roads exist within indigenous homesteads of Owerri people and were duly captured in the Owerri Master Plan. According to the petition, this is tantamount to an attempt at uprooting the indigenes from their ancestral homesteads. The indigenes then vowed to resist the destruction of their homesteads with the last drop of their blood. They therefore appealed to the president to come to their aid by asking Governor Okorocha to leave their ancestral market, homeland and institutions intact and not to destroy long standing cultural heritages and structures that are part of their customs and traditions. The petition which was signed by Fabian Ojiri CP (Rtd), president; Reginald Edokwe Ebere, vice president and Corley Acholonu, secretary reads: Our Dear President Buhari, Balkanization of Owerri and the ill defined, unplanned and uncoordinated urban renewal activities being carried out by Governor Rochas Okorocha aimed at victimising the indigenes of Owerri Sir, we, the Concerned Owerri Indigenes, with a deep sense of humility, most respectfully use this medium to inform you about the victimization our people in the hands of our elected Governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha . The Governor came into power because our people voted for him and expressed their votes as a kind of protest against the non performance of the last governor of the State having been assured by him that there would be improvement in the lives of our people socially and economically. But today Nde Owerri are facing very serious problems worse than they ever imagined. After a failed attempt by our Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha to forcefully acquire a very large parcel of land known in the Owerri master plan as Area ‘K’ for the setting up of some utopian projects during his first term in office, and oblivious of the fact that there was a pending litigation, our governor has not batted an eyelid in his efforts to dehumanize the Owerri people Balkanization of Owerri The Governor for reasons best known to him and without any form of consultation with Nde Owerri, balkanized the ancient Owerri kingdom that has existed for well over three centuries into five fragments he labeled as autonomous communities. He went on to appoint four of his cronies regardless of whether they are indigenes or not, as ‘Ezes’ for each of them, thereby creating so much confusion in the land and apparently in a bid to destroy the long existing kingdom and homogeneity of the Owerri people.
Vanguard