The Governorship Candidate of Imo Labour Party, LP, for the November 11 Imo governorship election, Distinguished Senator Athan Achonu, has decried the high level of insecurity in the state, saying the situation has assumed a frightening dimension.

He said the state condition right now is worse than that of Somalia and Afghanistan, adding that the only scenario he could compare what is happening in the state with, was what happened in Cambodia sometime in the 1960”s

Senator Athan Achonu made this observation in Owerri, during the Inauguration of his local government areas campaign coordinating team, even as he announced that presidential candidate of the party, Mr Peter Obi and Abia State Gov Dr Alex Otti will be in the state for the formal flag off the party’s campaign on Saturday, August 22, 2023.

Weighing in on the volatile security index of the state at the moment, the Umunumo, Ehime Mbano Local Government Area, born initiator of the Aku Ruo Ulo developmental philosophy, noted that since he was born he has never witnessed what is going on in the before.

He said the destruction of life and property in the state today is quite unimaginable and heartbreaking, pointing out that the crisis has so degenerated to a level that majority of Orlu people don’t go home to their ancestral homes.

According to him, the Imo carnage has so dangerously deteriorated that it will be stating the obvious, to say that what happened in Somalia and Afghanistan were child’s play in comparison to what Imo people are passing through currently.

The Aku Ruo Ulo advocate opined that in his reckoning the only scenario he could compare the seeming intractable quagmire with was the disaster experienced in Kamarushe, Cambodia in the sixties

However, he expressed hope that the existential threat which has almost brought the state to its knees would soon be effectively addressed, by the incoming government of the Labour Party to be led by him.

He called on the campaign team, labour party members and the electorate of the state, to play the role expected of them during the campaign and also vote him in the election, to enable him stamp out insecurity from the state.

Senator Achonu urged the campaign team to brace up for the struggle to liberate the state from the bondage of misrule and misgovernance.

The governorship candidate made it clear that Imo is the only state Imolites have and for that reason, it’s incumbent on all of them to work hard in coming months to free it from its current bondage.

He urged them not to be distracted or their spirit weakened by the blackmail, propaganda and falsehood campaign being unleashed on him by the likes of Joseph Ukaegbu, disclosing that the plot behind the ongoing orchestrated smear campaign against him, is to sow confusion and frustration into the minds of Imo people, so they will vote Gov Uzodinma again or not vote at all.

He lampooned Gov Uzodinma government’s joint project account which gulps a whooping ninety one million naira, N91m, monthly from each of the councils of the state, pointing out that the arrangement is only a conduit for the siphoning of LG allocations.

Senator Achonu also mocked what perceived as the governor’s last minute indiscriminate appointments, saying he is praying that every family in the state, will get one appointment or another, to make some money they can sustain themselves with under the present economic hardship.

He told them to go back home and work hard for the victory of the party, assuring them that nobody will rig it as the eyes of the whole world will be on Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi States on the day of the election.

The Deputy State Chairman of the party, Dr Kate Osunkwo told the mammoth crowd that the Labour Party in Imo has only one governorship candidate and that he’s Senator Achonu.

She dismissed claims being made by those she described as recruited agents of distraction and destabilization, that they are the candidates of the party, opining that those claimants were paid to distabilize the party.

Contributing, the Take Back Imo Campaign Director General, Chief Chime Nzeribe, called for dedicated selfless service, just as he harped on the great need to work with everyone towards achieving success.

Dr David Mbamara a former governorship aspirant of the party and Hon Jeff Ojinika House of Representatives Candidate of the party in the 2023 election, said the electorate of Imo should take their own destiny in their own hands by working and voting for the Labour Party, as it is the only party that equipped with everything needed to rescue the state’s sinking ship.