Rochas Okorocha, former governor of Imo state, has released a statement following the seal off on his property by officials of the Economic Financial and Crime Commission(EFCC).
Speaking in a statement which he made public via his media aide, Sam Onwuemeodo, the former governor who now represents Imo west senatorial district in the National Assembly what is happening in the state is not the government but a total war against himself, his family and APC.
Read the full statement below;Â
PRESS RELEASE
SUBJECT: SEALING OF ROCHAS FOUNDATION COLLEGE OWERRI WITH MORE THAN THREE THOUSAND STUDENTS & OTHER INVESTMENTS, BY AGENTS OF ENUGU OFFICE OF EFCC WITHOUT INVITATION OR INVESTIGATION.
-OBVIOUSLY, THE PDP GOVT. IN IMO INSTIGATED THE ACTION, WITH ALL THE CHIEFTAINS OF THE PARTY WHO FELT POLITICALLY DISPLACED FROM 2011 TO 2019 & GOVERNOR IHEDIOHA LAUNCHING WAR AGAINST SENATOR ROCHAS OKOROCHA, THE FAMILY AND OTHERS, IN THE STATE
On Tuesday, July 23, 2019, as at about 6am, Agents of the Economic & Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, from its Office in Enugu with Hilux buses loaded with armed military and mobile Policemen stormed the Rochas Foundation College Owerri, with more than three thousand students, and most of them, orphans, and sealed the College.
The Commission also sealed the East High College and Academy, Owerri with Uloma Rochas Nwosu as the proprietor, among other investments belonging to the former governor and family which the Commission Sealed.
Read also: Why Ihedioha Needs To Sack His Chief Of Staff Now: Okorocha
The action of EFCC with the presence of heavily Armed Military and Police Mobile Personnel frightened the students and most of them began to cry. It was a sympathetic scenario.
What is obvious is that the PDP government in the State with Chief Emeka Ihedioha as governor and all the PDP Chieftains who felt politically displaced from 2011 to 2019 by Rochas Okorocha had come together to launch war against Rochas and his family. And APC members. And that was why they needed INEC to declare their Candidate winner even when he didn’t meet the requirement. Unfortunately, they have instigated certain agencies like EFCC into taking some hasty actions following a flood of petitions by them.
Our concern about the action of the EFCC is the approach. There was no prior invitation to the Managements or Proprietors of the Colleges and other establishments sealed by the Commission as expected before such action. To the best of our knowledge too, these Colleges have not been under the investigation of the Commission. We have had the feeling that the Sealing of the Colleges or any other structure as the case may be, would have been based on the outcome of their investigation in which the management or the proprietors would have also been interrogated.
Sealing the colleges and other properties because they belong to Rochas Okorocha’s family before investigation is what is difficult for us to comprehend especially when most of these establishments had preceded the governorship of Rochas Okorocha.
The Rochas Foundation Colleges have existed in Imo and in several states of the Federation including Plateau, Kano, Sokoto, Kaduna, Oyo, Bauchi and so on, years before Okorocha’s governorship. And the EFCC may also go to those states outside Imo to seal the rest of the Colleges.
What is happening in Imo at the moment is not governance. It is a total war against Rochas and his family, APC members, members of other parties and Opponents. They said they want to make the State uncomfortable for Opponents and they are doing it with recklessness.
It should also not be forgotten that there is a subsisting Court Order to this effect. And we believe that the Commission’s office in Enugu is aware of the Court Order in question as it concerns the Commission and Okorocha’s investments. The EFCC is a highly responsible Institution and our appeal is that it should not be incited against Okorocha and family and should equally take cognizance of the Court Order in question.
Senator Rochas Okorocha and family believe strongly in the State and have relocated most of their businesses to Owerri, unlike these PDP bigwigs who do not love the State, with all of them having nothing to show that they have a stake in the State.
We want to appeal to the EFCC to unseal the Colleges and other ventures they had sealed pending the outcome of the investigation they said they have begun. And also considering the stand of the Court of Competent Jurisdiction on the issue.
The students of the Colleges, most of them without parents, cannot be allowed to suffer because of the action of a wicked government in the State. It is not all about Rochas Okorocha and the family, but about humanity and posterity.
