Had the governor of Imo State, Mr. Hope Uzodinma and the police authorities taken the intelligence information provided by the Department of State Service (DSS) seriously, the Monday twin attacks on the custodial centre and headquarters of the state police command would have been averted.
A former assistant director of the DSS, Mr. Dennis Amachree made the revelation yesterday while featuring on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily.’
He said the DSS aletred both the Nigeria Police Force and Imo Uzodinma, at least three times before the vicious attacks on the two facilities which led to the escape of 1, 884 inmates of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS).
He added that both the governor and the police failed to act proactively.
“There was enough intelligence, enough actionable intelligence. Actionable in the sense that it allows for space for people to execute it; one week ahead of the event and of course 72 hours before the event and then 48 hours before the event.
“So, three times, the Nigeria Police Force was informed by the DSS that this is going to happen because some suspects that are being geolocated around the area were found surveilling the prisons and the police headquarters but you know in our lackadaisical way, when the intelligence came, they threw it by the side and when something happens, everybody runs around.
“All security reports are shared with the governor in a state first. Then, it’s shared with other sister agencies like the police and the military, all of them got this particular report. So, the governor is very much aware.
“Apparently, nothing was done [to stop the attacks]. You can see that the governor was referring to that particular report that it’s not IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra).
“Some people are just too lazy to do their jobs,” he said.
Amachree also faulted claims by the erstwhile inspector general of police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, that members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) masterminded the attacks.
“He (Adamu) doesn’t have his fact right because I don’t see how he can identify them. You identify people by either arresting some of them or from what they say but there was no person that was arrested,” Amachree said adding that the DSS was investigating the attacks and would identify who the attackers were.
Recall that after the Monday invasion, two other police stations have been attacked again by gunmen.
Uzodinma has blamed the attacks on aggrieved politicians who aim to destabilise the All Progressives Congress (APC) government in the state.
“What happened in Imo state last Monday is unbelievable. A group of hoodlums, of course sponsored by some known politicians in Imo state, decided to destroy public infrastructure and government facilities — and attacked a correctional centre facility and also attacked a police state headquarters.
He added: “They (politicians) try to identify grievances of people in a particular area. They hire hoodlums from outside Imo state. They bring them in pretending to be IPOB and they commit this crime and they go away.
“It is not about IPOB. Yes, we agree, we have aggrieved IPOB members. But I can tell you, those who are doing these destructions, most of them were brought from outside Imo state,” he stated.
