The deployment of security agents including the military to flash points in Orlu and its environs by the Federal Government of President Muhammadu Buhari, has been described as timely.
Imo State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barr. C.O.C Akaolisa while briefing newsmen in his office in Owerri, Friday, disclosed that the intervention of the Federal Government of Nigeria in the crisis that erupted following what he said were the unbecoming activities of hoodlums under the guise of a security network fighting alleged killer herdsmen in the area, forestalled breakdown of law and order.
Barr. Akaolisa explained that as the Chief Law Officer of Imo State, it was incumbent on him to enlighten Imo people on the developments in Orlu vis-à-vis the recent deployment of the military to the area.
While noting that those doing cattle business in the area especially, Awo Idemili with an existing cattle market, were mostly indigenes who according to him, guide their cows properly, the commissioner said that Orsu Local Government Area where he comes from, has no known history of clashes between herdsmen and host communities.
He traced the genesis of the current brouhaha in Orlu and its environs to the period of the EndSARS protests when he alleged that some members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, infiltrated the protests and suspectedly attacked some security agents with the aim of collecting their arms.
He further hinted that claims of herders-host communities’ clashes in Orlu area of the state, were mere hoax designed to justify the activities of IPOB and its security network in the area.
Barr. Akaolisa further disclosed that a number of security agents lost their lives as a result of such attacks, adding that some northerners who were killed in the recent clashes in the area were not Fulani herdsmen but those doing their normal businesses within Orlu area.
The commissioner equally hinted that those so far arrested over the clashes in Orlu and its environs would be prosecuted, while their possible sponsors would also be brought to face the wrath of the law.
He thanked Governor Hope Uzodinma and President Buhari for their proactiveness in handling the situation and restoring calm in Orlu.
The attorney-general added that citizens of the state should guard against being misinformed on the situation or developments in Orlu.
