Barely 48 hours after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, sealed business premises belonging to the wife of the immediate past governor of Imo State, Nneoma Okorocha, for investigation, officials of the State Government Committee on Recovery of Government Property, broke into the premises in search of stolen property.
The Committee headed by Jasper Ndubuaku was reported to have broken into the Warehouse at the ‘All In’, where the former First Lady sells furniture and other household items, where they identified some furniture as government property.
The Committee had sometime in June, raided a business complex, House of Freeda, owned by daughter of the former governor, Mrs. Uloma Nwosu, in search of government property.
When NAN visited the scene along the Aba-Owerri road, a mammoth crowd had gathered to observe the development, while hoodlums who could not be readily identified, were seen carting away some of the goods.
It, however, took the intervention of the Commissioner of Police, Rabiu Ladodo to prevent the Committee from carting away the property it earlier market as belonging to the state govenrment.
Addressing journalists on Friday, Jjuly 26, 2019, Ndubuaku, Chairman of the Committee, said that the Committee had a Court Order to raid the business premises and recover stolen government property, having gotten a credible intelligence that government properties were warehoused in the premises but were obstructed from carrying out their duties by the Police.
He disclosed that the premises has been sealed formerly by the state government, adding that nobody, including the owners will be allowed entry into the premises pending further actions
But the former governor, Rochas Okorocha, has described the invasion of his wife’s shop as height of brigandage.
A statement signed by his Media Adviser, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, read, “Nigerians should watch closely the brigandage going on in lmo. Leaders and members of the so-called government’s property Recovery Committee are at the shop at Naze near Owerri owned by Dr Mrs Nkeocha Okorocha which the EFCC had marked for investigation last Tuesday following flood of petitions by the PDP government in the state and they are opening the containers and looting the contents. The looting is going on at the moment. Why won’t they allow the EFCC to conclude their investigation? Governor lhedioha has lost control.
“For the avoidance of doubt, these containers have been in the premises of the shop EFCC marked for investigation last Tuesday. And they are still there before the jasper Ndubuaku led looters went to the place. What if at the end of the day the EFCC investigation establishes that this shop has no relationship with the last administration. I think these guys are extremely careless”.
It added that, “again we have been shouting for the world to hear our voice. Aside their inviting the EFCC we have asked them to publish whatever they have against Rochas Okorocha and the family or anybody that served in the Rescue Mission government but they have not been forthcoming. The implication of all these is that where restraint is not applied and the governor can not control the recklessness, self-help may be the last resort . And nobody should be blamed”.
“For the avoidance of doubt, these containers have been in the premises of the shop EFCC marked for investigation last Tuesday. And they are still there before the jasper Ndubuaku led looters went to the place. What if at the end of the day the EFCC investigation establishes that this shop has no relationship with the last administration. I think these guys are extremely careless”.
