Those responsible for the recent attacks on some police formations and correctional facilities in Imo State are enemies of the people, Senate President Ahmad Lawan said on Friday.
He stated that the aim of the attackers was probably to cause a distraction for the state government, or even the Federal Government.
Lawan made the remarks in Owerri, the state capital where he commissioned a road project which was completed by the present administration in Imo.
“We have been experiencing insecurity recently, especially in Imo State – the jailbreak, burning of Police Headquarters, and so on and so forth.
“When a government programme or project is vandalised, when a government institution is vandalised and burnt, those doing so are enemies of the people because when you incarcerate someone in prison, the due process would have been followed,” he said.
The Senate President added, “This is in the public interest and therefore for anyone, whosoever that person is, to go and release prisoners or burn down the correctional centre otherwise known as prison, is number one enemy of the people.
“Our security agencies need more resources to ensure that we are all protected and life is secured as well as our property. We will continue to support our security agencies in partnership with the Executive arm of government.”
He warned that such an action could lead to insurgency, stressing that it was not different from the events in the North East.
The lawmaker decried that while the present administration was making efforts to tackle insecurity and insurgency in the North East, other security challenges such as banditry and militancy have surfaced.
He, however, justified the working relationship between the National Assembly and the Executive which he described as good.
Lawan was accompanied to Imo by some of his colleagues in the Senate, including Jibrin Barau, Biobarakuma Degi, Halliru Jika, Sani Musa, and Opeyemi Bamidele.
