Blood continues to flow in the once peaceful Imo State with Tony Enoch, a retired Army Captain as the latest victim. The Chair- man of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council for Oru East Local Government Area was recently murdered around Awo Omama. We call on Governor Hope Uzodinma to convene a meeting of distinguished Igbo elders, South-East stakeholders and relevant security agencies to stem this distraction that has turned Imo to a high risk area. The implications of this ugly development are clear enough. It is difficult to predict the motivation behind these killings. Capt. Enoch was a politician but in the same state, a Customary Court judge, Nnaemeka Ugboma, was assassinated during a court session in Ejemekwuru. The dead per- son was not involved in any political scheme. In convening this all important meeting, the governor while commend- ing the security agencies, should also look into arbi- trary arrest of law abiding citizens on trumped up charges of belonging to the Indigenous People of Bi- afra (IPOB) or the Eastern Security Network (ESN). There are bound to be errors of judgment in a chaotic state of siege mentality. However, it is better for 100 criminals to escape the hangman than for a law abiding citizen to be wasted for a crime he did not com- mit. In law, appearance and reality are not the same.

Take the case of Thaddeus Ojokoh, for instance. The 53-year-old tailor was arrested on April 15, 2023 at Afo Oru Market. While he was in detention, un- known elements attacked policemen on duty in Ngor Ok- pala, on April 21. In what is better described as fic- tion, the Imo State Police Command issued a statement on April 30 nam- ing Ojokoh as one of those who killed their four of- ficers and a couple during the Ngor Okpala attack. It sounds incredible that a man in police custody could escape, without being declared wanted, and join forces with criminals to lay siege on the police. What defies logic is that Ojokoh, a detainee, operated from a police cell, joined the attackers and was also ar- rested outside the cell after the attack while he was in custody. There are so many areas that should be of interest to the Imo State Government. In May 2022, a female soldier, Gloria Mathew was captured, tortured and beheaded with her fiancée, Linus Audu, also a soldier. The woman hailed from Imo State and was on her way to conclude marital rites.

No particular group is free from these wanton at- tacks. Serving and retired military and paramilitary personnel, businessmen, students, members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and even the aged are not spared. It should bother the government that a man like Enoch, who though retired from the Army as a captain, enlisted before some of the top generals in the Armed Forces today. His Army number of N/6250 indicates that he was senior to Generals Kenneth Minimah, Gabriel Olonisakin and Tukur Buratai, who all pulled out as Service Chiefs. The security agencies must not be fixated and blame IPOB for all the killings. They should look beyond insurgency and fish out other bands of crimi- nals who are hiding behind insecurity to operate. The Customary Court judge who was murdered was not identified as one of those troubling the insurgents. It should worry Ohanaeze and the entire Igbo nation that Imo has been besieged by criminals and other extraneous forces. What is called Imo State today, once served as refuge to Ndigbo during the Civil War. That says so much about the tag, Heartland. The last capital of short- lived Biafra was Owerri. It was the only town that fell and was recaptured.

It is remarkable too that while Owerri served as capital, Gen. Emeka Ojukwu chose Madonna High School, Etiti as his Government House. ‘Radio Biafra’ claimed to be operating from Enugu which had fallen in 1967 to Federal Troops. Beyond the facade, ‘Radio Biafra’ was domiciled in Obodoukwu, Urualla where then Col. Olusegun Obasanjo and his Third Marine Commandos marvelled at the ingenuity. The Biafra Army had its last headquarters at Isu Grammar School. There was a refinery at Awoma- ma, where Capt. Enoch was murdered. Ojukwu abandoned his caravan at St. John’s, Isu shortly be- fore going on exile in Cote d’Ivoire. The question now is what has happened to the Igbo Heartland of Refuge? Lead- er of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu is from Umuahia, Abia State. Simon Ikpa, who heads the Auto Pilots, hails from Ebonyi State. And yet the carnage in Imo does not happen as regularly in those states. Uzodinma and the se- curity agencies must find out why there was no bloodshed during the last elections. This could help unravel the puzzle. As the governor continues to at- tract development, safety of lives and property is equally important without which the much needed investment will not be brought into the state.