In another development, the Imo state Police Command has said over eight suspects have been arrested in connection with the burning of the study centre of the National Open University, NOUN, at EzeOke Nsu in Ehime Mbano Council Area of Imo state, last Tuesday.
The Imo State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Henry Okoye, disclosed this to newsmen in Owerri, the state capital on Wednesday.
According to Okoye, “I am pleased to announce that over eight suspects have been arrested in connection with the arson incidents in Ehime Mbano.
“Investigations are ongoing. More details will be communicated in due course.”
The Eagle Online reported that suspected arsonists, on Monday night, torched the residence of a former lawmaker, Sen. Frank Ibezim, at Ezeoke-Nsu in Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of Imo.
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The suspects, according to available information, also burnt down some facilities at the National Open University of Nigeria Study Center, also situated in the area.
It would be recalled that the attack came on the heels of a viral video report that the Federal Government planned to renovate the NOUN facility as a training ground for repentant Boko Haram insurgents.
The video followed a recent inspection visit by the Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, Tijani Mohammed, to the national training facility for the vulnerable, located inside the NOUN study center.
Mohammed, who was accompanied on the visit by Ibezim, reportedly said in a TVC News interview that the inspection was in view of a training programme for vulnerable persons, which would commence at the centre before the end of the year.
However, tension has continued to rise in the affected communities over fear alleging that there could be further attacks.
One of the leaders of Nsu community, who pleaded anonymity because of his security, advised that; “It is proper now that the security agencies mount security checkpoints, especially roads leading to the Ehime Mbano Council of the state.
“People in my community have not slept since Tuesday night. We are afraid. This kind of thing, we must take it seriously.”
A community leader of the neighbouring community, who was an immediate past President General, said: “Security agencies must work with the local security outfit now to secure not only Nsu but the entire communities in Ehime council area of the state.
“All of us must be vigilant and report suspicious moves because now that they have started, they must be stopped for the good of our community.”
