Governor Uzodinma Hires Youths, Takes Them In Buses To Welcome President Buhari Amid Tension In Imo

Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State has received President Muhammadu Buhari at Sam Mbakwe Airport, Owerri, the state capital, on Thursday.

The President is expected to inaugurate some projects in the state.

Buhari was welcomed by hundreds of youths hired by the governor to counter the sit-at-home directive given by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as they were stuffed in a fleet of buses and taken to the airport, SaharaReporters has learnt.

SaharaReporters also gathered that military helicopters and jets were hovering over Owerri and the nearby towns where the president has projects to commission.

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This was disclosed by a source close to the state government who spoke to SaharaReporters on the condition of anonymity on Thursday.

He also revealed that Imo residents observed the IPOB’s order to shun the President’s visit because of the possibility of violence as people were in a state of panic over the hovering of military jets.

Uzodinma had a few days back said that Buhari would be visiting Imo to inaugurate some “significant projects” his government executed.

“While in Abuja, I secured approval for President Muhammadu Buhari to visit Imo on Thursday, September 9, to commission some significant projects put together by the Shared Prosperity Administration,” the governor told journalists after he visited the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

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Reacting, the source told SaharaReporters that “this thing has two legs. The governor hired his people who have gone to receive the President this morning. As I speak to you, he has arrived at the International Airport in Owerri. The governor’s people are there”.

“Many of them are youths. They should be up to a thousand. I saw a series of buses conveying them to the airport because Governor Uzodinma doesn’t want the President to feel the sit-at-home order by IPOB was effective.

“But, generally, the second leg is that there is a sit-at-home order. The town is dry because the people didn’t go out. All markets are closed. No vehicles on the roads.

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“People didn’t go out because of fear of attack. They are scared of attacks. There are military fighter jets hovering in the air in case anything happens.

“The projects are located in and outside Owerri. So we can say the capital and the places adjoining Owerri are affected like Nazi in the Owerri North Local Government Area and Owerri Municipal. These are the places he might go for the projects,” the source said.