Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma says he cannot single-handedly guarantee security in the state.

Speaking to reporters after a close-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja, Uzodimma said other stakeholders including traditional rulers, religious leaders and politicians, among others, must engage more with the people to restore peace in the state.

“In Imo state, as I speak to you only me cannot restore security. Only me cannot guarantee security. I’ve to work with traditional rulers have to work with opinion leaders, I’ve to work with the youth leaders to be able to deploy community kind of security programme, to be able to resist what is going on today.

“But you’ve heard how people will come from outside the state in the name of unknown gunmen. I don’t know when we’ll begin to know these people and they’ll commit atrocities, and they will now flee.”

“If they speak out against the unwholesome activities of those destabilising the country, things would be different,” he said, adding that he was at the Villa to brief the President on the situation in the state.

Uzodinma also warned that those bent on destroying government property must be ready to face the consequences.

He went on to note that the situation in Imo was better save for incidents involving very important personalities as the state had not recorded high casualties and the kidnapping of school students.

What you should know about insecurity in Imo state 

Imo, just like other states in the South-east, has been grappling with severe security challenges, including attacks on security agencies.

The recent killing of Ahmed Gulak, a former political adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan and APC chieftain, in Owerri highlighted the level of insecurity in Imo State.

IPOB, a pro-Biafra secessionist group proscribed by the Nigerian government, has a high concentration of its members and supporters in Imo State which appears to be the epicentre of the group’s activities in the country’s South-east region.