The ongoing demolition of illegal structures and unapproved buildings in<\/p>\n
Owerri, Imo state, nearly took the lives of mechanics at the Orji mechanic
\nvillage in Owerri North council area, when Gov. Rochas Okorocha in a bid
\nto force the relocation of the mechanics, grabbed an AK-47 rifle from one
\nof the security agents in his convoy and started firing amidst a crowd of
\npeople gathered in the area.<\/p>\n
Pointblanknews.com gathered the Okorocha had directed the mechanics to
\nrelocate to Avu along Owerri \u2013 Port Harcourt expressway. But a cross
\nsection of the mechanics told our correspondent that the governor is yet
\nto fully acquire the land from the Avu community and has not made any
\neffort to develop the site to allow the mechanics relocate.<\/p>\n
An eyewitness told Pointblanknews.com that Okorocha had earlier met with
\nthe mechanics where he solicited their cooperation to relocate from the
\narea, and granted them 2 weeks. On the way back to their shops, the
\nmechanics who were dissatisfied by Okorocha\u2019s decision to relocate them
\nwithin 2 weeks, destroyed billboards bearing the governor\u2019s image and made
\nbonfire at the \u2018Ama wire\u2019 junction and other spots along Okigwe road,
\nwhich caused tension in the area.<\/p>\n
When news got to Okorocha, the governor raced to the area and ordered his
\nsecurity details to arrest the protesting mechanics, and in a moment of
\nrage, joined in the fray.<\/p>\n
The governor was said to have jumped down from his vehicle and grabbed one
\nof the protesting mechanics, but the latter struggled to free himself from
\nOkorocha\u2019s grip leading to the governor losing his balance. Angered by the
\ndevelopment, Okorocha collected an AK-47 gun from one of his security
\ndetails and starting firing into the air.<\/p>\n
Some of the mechanics who insisted on salvaging their property were
\narrested by the Police who took over from the governor and continued
\nshooting sporadically. When the fracas died down, more than 15 mechanics
\nhad sustained vary degree of injuries. The arrested mechanics are yet to
\nbe released as at the time of filing this report.<\/p>\n
Okorocha later announced that the two weeks he gave the mechanics to
\nrelocate from the Orji mechanic village has been reduced to 24 hours since
\nthey disobeyed his order.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The ongoing demolition of illegal structures and unapproved buildings in Owerri, Imo state, nearly took the lives of mechanics at the Orji mechanic village in Owerri North council area, when…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n