The police have unsealed the Labour Party’s Imo State secretariat in Owerri, the state capital. Our correspondent, who visited the facility on Tuesday, observed that the police operatives who had taken over the premises on Monday after sealing them had now left. Staff members have regained access to the Labour Party office, and a party chieftain in the state, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed that the secretariat had been unsealed.
The party’s national secretary, Umar Farouk, issued a statement on Monday accusing Governor Hope Uzodimma of colluding with the police to seal the secretariat. He said the national leadership was “shocked over the invasion and occupation of its secretariat in Owerri today, Monday, April 3, 2023, by agents of the Imo state governor, including thugs and unauthorized police drafted from the government house.” Farouk noted that this illegal occupation resembled a previous invasion on March 15, 2023. Unlike the March incident, which lacked any explanation from the state government, the latest action was allegedly justified by a court order—though, to his knowledge, no such order has been presented. He added that police occupying the secretariat have not shown any court order, and that all party officials and staff have been barred from the premises.
Farouk also said the party had contacted the office of the Inspector General of Police about the development. The police claimed they were unaware of any security breach that would warrant occupying the secretariat and asserted that no officers had been assigned there; any officers present were likely drafted from the State House.
In response, the governor’s chief press secretary, Oguwike Nwachuku, called the allegation unfounded, stating, “The Labour Party’s allegation is unfounded. They should stop pointing fingers at the wrong place.”
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