18 Daily INDEPENDENT Friday, April 13, 2012

IMO UNDER THE WEIGHT OF KIDNAPPERS (1) By Uche Nwosu correspondent, owerri

IMO State is fast acquiring the toga of “a den of Kidnappers and armed robbers”, no thanks to the daily cases of abduction for ransom of prominent citizens or their relative by gunmen. Before now, that is before the inception of the Owelle Roaches Okorocha regime as the fifth executive governor of the state last year, violent crimes pervaded the place and was actually a thorn in the flesh of the people, but not as it is presently.

At a point, it became a phenomenon that the government and the people were not able to contend with as both the wealthy amongst them and their relations lived in perpetual fear and apprehension. This was during the immediate past administration of Ikedi Ohakim. Then, nobody knew who the next victim would be. Actually; the issue of violent crime could be traced to the otokoto period when killing for ritual purposes was the order of the day by some blood sucking gangsters who sacrificed human being for money.
However, after a deadly blow was unleashed on the Otokoto felony by the military from 1996 to 1999, quietness was returned to imo state as the miscreant behind the dastardly act fled the state. But in 2007 during the administration of Ikedi Ohakim, the state returned to the sad period of witnessing heavily armed macho men menacingly roving around the state seeking preys to abduct in exchange for money.

As citizen of the state were wondering what was happening, former chief of staff to former Governor Achike Udenwa, Dr Vin Udokwu was abducted .He stayed almost nine months in the hands of his abductors. Capped with that was the kidnapping of former MD of Nigeria Breweries , Chief Festus Odimegwu’s wife , Stella, Christopher Chukwu father of multi millionaire and the mother of former majority leader in the imo House of assembly , Hon Stanford Onyirimba and so on followed.

It will be noted that some of these kidnapped victims died few days after their release by their abductors apparently because of the shock and unpalatable condition their abductors usually subjected them during the period of the incarceration .This was the condition the state found itself before Governor Okorocha was sworn in may 29, 2011 .It was alleged that kidnapping was unleashed as a political weapon against the former governor ,even though he was accused of not doing enough to curtail it .

However, on assumption of office, Okorocha pledged to tackle the hydra-headed monster headlong; promising to nip it in the bud in the next six months.