TheCable

Rochas Okorocha, former governor of Imo state, has alleged that police officers watched on as thugs cut his “boys” with machetes during a clash in Imo state.

The senator said he managed to escape the purported attack on Sunday after his orderlies “rushed me to a room and locked me up”.

Okorocha was arrested on Sunday for unsealing a property seized by the state government on Friday.

The property which reportedly belongs to his wife is said to be under investigation by the state government.

Not long after forcefully gaining access into the property, masked police operatives arrived to escort him away.

As the scene unfolded, Okorocha’s supporters clashed with those of Hope Uzodinma, the state governor, whom he has been at loggerheads with for some time.

Speaking during a recorded audio interview played on Channels TV, the senator said he “can’t even imagine” what happened to him during the encounter.

He said: “I came back from an occasion and proceeded to Royal Palm Hotel to enquire what actually happened. On getting there, I saw a lot of thugs. They started molesting, cutting my boys, shooting. But the police were there too, and they did nothing and said nothing.

“They were macheting… my orderlies rushed me to a room and locked me up. Those boys had teargas, police also were throwing teargas. As they were advancing, the police were backing them up; and they were coming and were shooting.

“I enquired and they said it is the government house police. And I asked, is this with the directive of the IG or the CP? Can the governor actually use government house police to do what he is doing?

“They kept me in a room for some time and all my boys got injured. Right now, my in-law was shot and his legs have been scattered.”

Okorocha fell out with Uzodinma in the build-up to the 2019 governorship election in the state after he moved against the latter’s emergence as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).