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  • Ohakim narrates experience after gunmen attack convoy, killing four policemen

    Ohakim narrates experience after gunmen attack convoy, killing four policemen

    Former Imo State Governor, Ikedi Ohakim has said a bulletproof vehicle saved him after an attack by heavily armed gunmen who killed four of his police escorts.

    Ohakim’s convoy was ambushed on Monday night at Oriagu in Ehime Mbano Local Government Area in Imo.

    Speaking with the TheNiche the ex-governor narrates how it all happened and how he survived the attack

    He said: “We were driving between Isiala Mbano and Ehime Mbano. These people blocked us at a place called Umualumaku.

    “They attacked us from behind and were firing at our vehicles consistently. I thought I was a dead man and I was with two of my children – my son and daughter.

    “What saved me was the bulletproof vehicle. That I am alive today is by the special grace of God and the bulletproof vehicle.

    “But unfortunately for me they killed four of our boys, including the driver. Yes, we lost four of the boys and I am devastated. How can that be? What crime did they commit?”

    Ohakim said even when his own driver managed to escape from the scene, the assailants pursued his vehicle.

    “They pursued us and continued firing at our tyres. Luckily, the vehicle has what is called run-flat tyres on which you can continue driving even after a puncture. So, even when they shot at the tyres hoping to immobilise us, the vehicle continued moving. If they were ordinary tyres and the vehicle had stopped, they would cornered and finished us.

    “But the tyres held on until we got back home. We drove for about 20 minutes before we got home. That was the saving grace.”

    “The driver who manifested tremendous level of driving skill kept manoeuvring until he lost them at a junction when he went right and not knowing where we had gone, they headed the other direction on the road to Umuahia.

    “We then turned and went back to my house. We were there when Imo Government House sent reinforcement from Owerri who brought the corpses of my security people.”

    Ohakim, who said he saw the assailants said they were not amateurs.

    “This goes beyond the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), I must say. These are professionals, well-trained. They are not ordinary people. They were driving a blue colour BMW 5-series car, brand new. They came to kill me.”

    Ohakim lamented the worsening security situation in Imo State.

    “I don’t know what this is all about. It is becoming terrible. Won’t people come home again? Are we going to stay in Owerri and Abuja permanently without coming back to our communities?” the former governor mourned.

     

  • Imo State: Former governor Ohakim withdraws from senatorial race

    Former Imo state governor Ikedi Ohakim has withfrawn from the Imo North Senatorial primary election of the All Progressives Congress scheduled to take place in about six local Governrmnt Areas in the district on Saturday.

    Ohakim, who was the governor of Imo state between 2007 and 2011, announced his withdrawal from the race in a letter addressed to the National Chairman of APC, Abdullahi Adamu, through the chairman of the party in Imo State.

    The former Governor confirmed his withdrawal from the race through a letter dated Friday,27 and sent to the party secretariat.

    The letter was titled “Withdrawal from senatorial primary election”

    The three-paragraph letter read, “It is with the highest sense of responsibility that I write to inform you of my withdrawal from the senatorial primaries for Imo North scheduled for Saturday, May 28, 2022.

    “The decision to withdraw from the race was arrived at after due consultations with my family and close associates and after a thorough review of events in the last couple of days.

    “I wish to assure the leadership of our great party at all levels of my commitment to the success of the party both now and in the future.

    “May I also seize this opportunity to thank you for your encouragement and moral support while I was in the race.”

    Findings show  that the ex-governor withdrew from the race after a former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Maurice Iwu and a businessman, Tony Chukwu, insisted that Ohakim will not fly the flag of the party.

    They rather preferred a former member of the National Assembly, Patrick Ndubueze, over Ohakim.

  • Police file criminal charges against ex-Imo gov for using Fashola’s name for fraud

    Police file criminal charges against ex-Imo gov for using Fashola’s name for fraud

    The Office of the Inspector-General of Police has filed criminal charges against former Imo State Governor, Ikedi Ohakim for using the name of Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, to defraud unsuspecting Nigerians.

    The Nigeria Police Force filed the criminal charge against the former governor, before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

    According to the office of the Inspector-General of Police in a charge number CR/993/2020, dated September 23, 2020, it accused Ohakim of fraud and false information.

    In addition, the Police alleged that Ohakim claimed in his statement to the police that he gave Lady Chinyere Lilian Amuchienwa N100 million for his governorship election in 2019, which he could not prove in the statement.

    The three-count charge against Ohakim was signed by one Stanley Nwodo.

    It stated thus: “That you Ikedi Ohakim on or about the 23rd day of May 2019 at Asokoro, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court did unlawfully give false information against one Chinyere Amuchienwa that she threatened you with gun knowing it to be false and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 140 of the Penal Code Law of the Northern Nigeria, 1968.

    ”That you Ikedi Ohakim on or about the 23rd day of May 2019, at Asokoro, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court did unlawfully give false information against one Chinyere Amuchienwa, that you have a plot of land for sale at Lagos State, knowing it to be false and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 140 of the Penal Code Law of the Northern Nigeria, 1968.

    “That you Ikedi Ohakim on or about the 23rd day of May 2019 at Asokoro, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court did unlawfully use derogatory the name of Raji Fashola as the owner of the purported land situated at Ikeja, Lagos State and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 140 of the Penal Code Law of the Northern Nigeria, 1968.”

  • Ex-Gov Ohakim, businesswoman in rough fight over fraud

    Ex-Gov Ohakim, businesswoman in rough fight over fraud

    Former Governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim, last night debunked the claims leveled against him by a businesswoman, Mrs. Chinyere Amuchinwa.

    TheNewsGuru recalls that Amuchinwa in a petition dated July 20, 2020 and addressed to the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu and the Department of State Services (DSS), had accused the former governor of swindling her of N500 million.

    However in a statement issued last night by his Political Advisor, Emmanuel Chukwu, the former Imo State governor described the claims as most ludicrous and laughable.

    Accusing the businesswoman of concealing the facts, the former governor dared her to reveal the nature of her enterprise and business address, if she has any.

    He noted that the businesswoman had filed a counter-petition against him as an after-thought to an uncompleted investigation of her conducts towards him, based on a petition he had filed against her upon which she was arrested on January 20, 2020, seven months before her petition.

    Stating that he was aware of her sponsors, the former governor criticized her claims that she supplied luxury goods worth N110million to him, wondering why she did not state the exact nature of the goods, evidence of request for the goods, acknowledgment receipt and the address of transaction.

    The statement read: “The allegations are, to say the least, most ludicrous and laughable. They all together constitute an elaborate and audacious scheme by Ms Amuchinwa to blackmail, extort and otherwise defame the person of Dr. Ohakim. In the THISDAY story, Ms Amuchinwa presented herself as ‘businesswoman’, but did not state the nature of her enterprise and her business address, if any. And to be sure, Ms Amuchinwa had filed this counter-petition as an afterthought to an ongoing investigation of her criminal conducts towards Dr Ohakim, based on a petition Dr. Ohakim had filed against her and upon which she was arrested as far back as 20th January, 2020, seven clear months before she was recruited to file her false petition. We are fully aware of her nefarious sponsors.

    “In purporting to have supplied luxury goods worth N110million to Dr. Ohakim, she did not state the exact nature of these goods, evidence of request for the goods, acknowledgment receipt and the address of transaction. And why would her fake invoices be in foreign currency, especially in Euros when she does not have any shop in Europe?

    “Third, in claiming to have made N500million payment to Dr Ohakim for purchase of land, she dishonestly left out whether such was made through the banking system. As of a fact, if such payment ever existed, it is very easy to track money trail through the banking system. Did she make the payment in cash, foreign currency or how really? Even at that, N500million is certainly a huge sum; so, she certainly would require a large bullion van making multiple trips to convey such quantum cash.”

    Ohakim bragged that he would go to any distance to prove his innocence and ensure that Amuchinwa is brought to justice alongside her enablers and co-conspirators.

    “If she had gotten away with blackmail in the past, now she has met her waterloo. As the sages say: ‘To be toss is nothing but to be safely toss,’” he concluded.

     

  • Uzodinma orders probe of Ex-govs Ohakim, Okorocha, Ihedioha

    Uzodinma orders probe of Ex-govs Ohakim, Okorocha, Ihedioha

    Senator Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who was on Tuesday declared Imo State governor-elect by the Supreme Court, took the oath of office during a simple ceremony at the Heroes Square in Owerri, the state capital.

    He arrived at the venue from Abuja with his wife, children and his running mate, Prof. Placidius Njoku, at 7.15 pm

    Four minutes after, he mounted the podium where Chief Judge Justice Paschal Nnadi, administered the oaths of office and allegiance on him.

    The apex court, in its judgment directed Mr. Emeka Ihedioha, who was declared winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, to vacate office immediately.

    In his maiden address, Uzodinma announced his intention to look into the accounts and contracts awarded from May 29, 2010 till date.

    The period covers the tenures of Chief Ikedi Ohakim, Senator Rochas Okorocha and the short-lived tenure of the immediate governor, Emeka Ihedioha

    Uzodinma directed the Accountant-General to forward to his office all financial transactions between May 29, 2010 till date within four working days.

    The governor also asked permanent secretaries to forward to his office, all contracts awarded and their statuses within the same period.

    Ohakim, who was the Accord Party candidate in the same election, served as governor between 2007 and 2011.

    Although Okorocha did not vie in the election, having served out his two tenures, he openly supported his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu,of the Action Alliance.

    Nwosu’s case was one of the Imo cases listed for hearing by the Supreme Court before he made a U-turn by withdrawing it a few hours before the judgment.

    Uzodinma has also directed the suspension of all payments and treasury transactions by financial institutions managing the state’s accounts.

    Before the new governor arrived from Abuja where he was issued Certificate of Return by INEC, he, through his Campaign Organisation, asked the financial institutions to place a lid on the accounts.

    Uzodinma said at the ceremony that he felt highly fulfilled that justice had at last been served,. He described his Supreme Court victory as divine.

    The governor commended the judiciary for standing up for the truth in spite of the technicalities employed by the lower courts to deny him victory.

    Uzodinma, who said he had forgiven those who conspired to deny him victory, promised to create an environment of prosperity in the state. He also urged his opponents to join him in rebuilding the state.

    The personalities present at the event included APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole, Senator Rochas Okorocha and Rev. Father Ejike Mbaka.

    Mbaka, a Catholic priest and founder of the Adoration Ministry in Enugu, rightly predicted that Uzodinma would displace Ihedioha as governor.

  • Okorocha’s neglect of healthcare has boosted mortuary business in Imo – Ohakim

    A former Imo State Governor, Ikedi Ohakim, has noted that people doing Mortuary business in the state are now making a lot of money due to the poor condition of health facilities in the state.

    The former governor decried what he described as “the increasing degree of government imposed poverty and the comatose state of Medicare in the state, which has claimed several lives.”

    He also expressed regrets that the poverty level and poor medical facilities have sadly increased mortality rate and mortuary business.

    He said, “Mortuary business is booming in Imo State and this is attributable to increased poverty level and comatose state of the health sector in the state.

    Ohakim said he was, “The most experienced to rebuild the state in 2019.”