From George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
In line with its efforts to stem the upsurge in criminal activities, the Imo State government has embarked on the demolition of shanties in the state.
One of the major shanties ordered to be demolished is the popular Garki, a sprawling slum along Okigwe-Enugu road believed to be a haven for criminal elements in the state.
Oriental News learnt that the decision to demolish the over two decades slum may not be unconnected with incessant robbery attacks in the area, which is also inhabited by women of easy virtue and homosexuals said to be patronized by truck drivers who usually stop to pass the nights there before continuing in their journey to the northern parts of the country.
It was equally learnt that most of the inhabitants are Senegalese and Nigeriens who had entered the country illegally.
The Imo State Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madumere, who paid an unscheduled visit to the area in company of the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Acho Ihim, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Taiwo Lakanu and other top government officials, was shocked at the activities that were going on in the place, making him to describe the neighbourhood as not only a criminal hideout, but also a Sodom and Gomorrah.
Prince Madumere told newsmen that the government decision to demolish the place was not unconnected with security reports of criminal activities that have continued unabated in the area, saying that investigations showed that the perpetrators are inhabitants of the notorious “Senegalese”.
He regretted that the unwholesome acts of the said marauders have continued for almost two decades now due to lack of political will, which he said has in no little way affected the freedom of the people of the area and travellers due to tales of negative incidences of rape, robbery, and phone snatching.
Madumere said the place which has a false semblance of a market was actually a shanty home that serves as a hideout for hardened criminals, prostitutes and other users and peddlers of various kinds of hard drugs.
He maintained that Governor Rochas Okorocha from inception of office had made security of life and property the priority of his government, saying that it is the first charge of every responsible and responsive government.
Also speaking, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Lakanu, disclosed that Senegalese or Garki in Okigwe has been a nightmare to both travellers and residents of Okigwe in Imo State.
He pointed out that the incessant cases of rape, robbery, hard drug use, child trafficking, prostitution and other heinous crimes have been the order of the day at Garki.
He, therefore, called on the public to be vigilant and report any suspicious movement to the nearest police station.
Also the Speaker of Imo State House of Assembly who is from Okigwe Local Government Area commended Governor Okorocha for coming to rescue their people from the chains of hoodlums who have held the people of Okigwe to ransom for too long.
During the operation, over 100 suspects were arrested with the majority of them suspected to be prostitutes and young men while others took to their heels.
Earlier the state government had also ordered the sealing off of a house located at Douglas Road in the heart of the state capital which was discovered to be haven for criminal activities.
The premises said to be a meeting point for the sale and consumption of hard drugs such as cocaine and Indian hemp was destroyed and about 50 suspects apprehended.
Items recovered at the premises included several women hand bags suspected to have been snatched from innocent women, some quantity of cocaine, Indian hemp and other sundry materials used in sniffing cocaine.
The deputy governor who had ordered sealing up of the premises said that the state government would ensure that no criminal activities take place there again.
He also warned that landlords should not to allow their premises to be converted to criminal arena, stressing that any such property would be sealed up by the state government.