TheCable

Rochas Okorocha, governor, Imo state, says the “Occupy Imo” movement is an empty threat, as no “reasonable man or woman’ can protest against his administration.

On Monday, “Occupy Imo”, a movement organised by Imo Peoples Action for Democracy (IPAD), took to the streets to protest  against the policies of the current administration.

The group had alleged that its members were brutally attacked and beaten up by police officers.

In a statement issued on his behalf by Sam Onwuemeodo, his chief press secretary, Okorocha dismissed the threats of the protesters.

“Those who follow postings on the social media must have read what a faceless or non-existent group that called itself ‘Imo Peoples Action for Democracy’ with no fixed address or any existing human being behind it, had published threatening to ‘occupy Imo’ from Monday, December 18, 2017 to Sunday, December 24, 2017 in protest for reasons best known to them,” the statement read.

“When we saw that gimmick, we didn’t react to it because we knew it was one of such cock and bull stories. After all, a one-time speaker of the state house of assembly had issued a similar threat last year and on the day he said he was going to have a rally against the government, he was not even in Owerri but in Abuja enjoying himself. At the end of the day, nothing happened.

“We want to take the floor once again to inform the general public that governor Rochas Okorocha or his rescue mission administration does not have any opposition in the state. The few elite do not constitute any opposition in the proper sense of the word and so, they only operate on the social media.

“We want also to state clearly that no reasonable Imo man or woman can come out in protest against governor Rochas Okorocha or his administration because he has done for them what they never knew could be done by a government in the state.”