Yusuf Bello| Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State on Friday accused politicians of funding banditry to run down the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Uzodinma who made the allegation shortly after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House in Abuja, condemned the recent attacks by armed bandits on communities, especially in the northern part of the country.
He challenged the security agencies to urgently reveal the names of those sponsoring the attacks.
The governor while also condemning the call for secession, explained that criminality in Imo was being fueled by individuals within and outside the state.
He said, “What people are doing is to sponsor crisis to the extent that those funding banditry are politicians and I challenge and call on the security agencies to make their names available to the press because what they want to do is to distract a government that is focused.”
“It’s not only CCTV; some of those arrested by security agencies, some of them are not from Imo state or the south-east. It was a combination of those within the state and those from outside the state. As of the last count, we arrested almost 40 to 50 people, who also made useful statements and confessed to the crime.
Uzodinma further called on Nigerians to offer more support for the Federal Government to weed out sponsors of crisis and enemies of progress in the country, as the Buhari government since inception in 2015 has been fulfilling its promises of providing infrastructure, jobs, and social interventions, among others to the people.
“This country is blessed by God. From 2015 to date, I thought what the problem would be people saying there is no job creation, that people are not feeding, that salaries are not being paid, that infrastructure is going down, that social interventions are not approved by the government, but these things are available, he said.
“A pass mark for the government of President Muhammadu Buhari. A situation where you will leave the ethical way of playing politics to sponsor banditry to bring down a government, we should rise up and condemn it – all of us.”
“Now, people are no longer talking about that. Rather, what they are doing is to sponsor crisis, to the extent that those funding this banditry are politicians, which I challenge and call on security agencies to make their names available to the press, because what they want to do is to distract a government that is focused.
“If this government is not doing well, I’ll be one of those that will declare the government as not doing well. But a situation where you’ll leave the formal way, ethical way of doing politics, and you are now sponsoring banditry to bring down a government, for Christ’s sake, we should rise up and condemn it, all of us.”
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