Former Minister of Aviation and activist, Femi Fani-Kayode, has blamed Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, for the deaths of people he was elected to protect during the demolition exercise he ordered at the popular Eke-Ukwu market in Owerri, the state capital.
In a series of tweets, Fani-Kayode poured abuses on Okorocha.
Mr. Fani-Kayode tweeted: “When will this pot-bellied illiterate, this filthy sodomite, this one-legged ritualist and this ravenous beast stop killing people in Imo?
“Calling a mass murderer a mass murderer,a racist a racist,a bigot a bigot,a monster a monster and a tyrant a tyrant is NOT hate speech.
“It is called speaking truth to power and it is the life-blood of democracy. Anyone that thinks otherwise needs to go back to school.”
Three people were reportedly killed by security operatives who were sent by Governor Okorocha to enforce the demolition, against the wishes of the traders and the Owerri people.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has also condemned the tragic incident, accusing Okorocha of causing the deaths recorded in the demolition exercise.
In a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, the PDP regretted that despite an existing court order restraining the State government from the exercise, the demolition was carried out.
The statement partly read, “We condemn the forceful demolition of the popular Eke Ukwu market and violent eviction of traders in Owerri by the Imo State government using men of the Nigerian Police Force and other security agencies during which three people including a 10 year old child were extra-judicially murdered and several other people were injured.
“This violent eviction is all the more condemnable because it was carried out in violation of a pending order granted by an Imo State High Court restraining the Imo State government from demolishing the market and evicting the traders.
“This action, sadly, follows a pattern of the use of the apparatus of State security to forcefully and violently carry out evictions of ordinary Nigerians from valuable property in blatant violation of Court orders. Not very long ago, the Lagos State Government ordered the forceful eviction of indigent Nigerians from waterfront properties to enable it enter into joint venture agreements for the construction of luxury apartments. Like the Owerri incident, this eviction led to the deaths of at least two (2) people and the injury of several others, including women and children,” the statement read in part.”
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