The Labour Party has condemned the invasion of its Imo State office.
Umar Farouk, the party’s National Secretary, stated in a statement on Monday that the secretariat was sealed by the police in alleged collusion with the state government.
The party also claimed that the action was part of a plot by Imo state Governor Hope Uzodimma to install a governorship candidate in the Labour Party and gain control of the Imo LP leadership.
“The national leadership of the Labour Party is shocked over the Invasion and Occupation, the action of its Secretariat in Owerri, today, Monday, April 3, 2023, by the agents of Imo state Governor, Hope Uzodimma, including thugs and unauthorized policemen drafted fa from the government house,” the statement read.
“Such an illegal occupation is akin to a similar invasion on the same secretariat on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.”
Farouk stated that, unlike the March invasion where no reason was given by the state government on why it took such unlawful action against the party, this time, the government said that the action was due to a court order.
“But as of the moment, no such order to our knowledge was given. No order has been presented to us by the court or its agents. The policemen presently occupying our secretariat have not even shown us the order. At the moment, all our officials and staff have been barred from accessing the secretariat.
“We have contacted the office of the Inspector General of Police on the ongoing development in the state and it has been confirmed that the Force is not aware of any security breach whatsoever in the state to warrant the occupation of our secretariat.
“The Labour Party, however, is not unmindful of the efforts of the Imo state governor, Hope Uzodimma to hijack the leadership of the party in Imo State,” the national secretary said.
Noting that the police had also informed the party that it had not detailed any of their officers and men to the LP secretariat in Imo State and that the officers might have been drafted from the State House in the state, Farouk urged members of the party to be peaceful even in the face of the present provocation.