The Imo State Police Command has said Senator Rochas Okorocha, a former governor of the state, has been released from custody, adding that he will be arraigned and prosecuted before a law court if he is found culpable of inciting violence.
Orlando Ikeokwu, the command’s Public Relations Officer, disclosed this in an interview on Monday.
Okorocha, the lawmaker representing Imo West Senatorial District, was arrested for allegedly destroying government and security vehicles and also breaking into the Royal Spring Palm Estate in the Akachi area of Owerri, the state capital, purportedly owned by his wife, Nkechi, which was sealed by the state government on Friday.
Also arrested were Ijeoma Igboanusi and Lasbrey Okafor-Anyanwu, ex-government appointees under the former governor.
According to Ikeokwu, Okorocha was invited for questioning and was later released on Sunday night.
The Imo Police PRO insisted that no individual is above the law, stating that the former governor will be charged to court if he is indicted.
“He was released later at night. If anybody is found culpable, definitely, he will be charged to court,” Ikeokwu said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
“If investigation proves that he [Okorocha] has committed an offence, he will be charged to court.”
According to a statement issued by Sam Onwuemeodo, his spokesperson, Okorocha accused Hope Uzodinma, the incumbent state governor, of empowering his aides to hire “more than 1000 thugs” to attack him.
Speaking later on Channels Television, Okorocha said he is still shocked over the scenario that played out, claiming that the governor’s Special Assistant pulled out his shirt, armed with a machete to cut him.
But in its reaction, the Imo State government dismissed Okorocha’s claim.
According to Declan Emelumba, the state Commissioner for Information, the sealing of the estate was in line with the report of a White Paper, which indicated that the property was built with taxpayers’ money.
