ADC/IMS/PR/0804/2025

OFFICIAL PRESS STATEMENT
African Democratic Congress (ADC), Imo State Chapter
Date: Monday, August 4, 2025

ARONDIZUOGU BLOODBATH: UZODIMMA’S BELATED RESPONSE EXPOSES POLITICAL INDIFFERENCE AND GOVERNANCE FAILURE

The African Democratic Congress (ADC), Imo State Chapter, is outraged by the delayed and insubstantial response of Governor Hope Uzodimma to the horrific massacre of innocent citizens in Arondizuogu on July 25, 2025, perpetrated by yet-to-be-identified gunmen.

The Governor’s remarks, delivered more than a week later — on Sunday, August 3, 2025, during a service at the Government House Chapel — were not only belated but also disturbingly hollow and disconnected. Such a delay in responding to the slaughter of Imo citizens is a gross abdication of responsibility and reflects a leadership devoid of empathy, urgency, and presence.

While grieving families and terrified communities cried out for reassurance, Governor Uzodimma was conspicuously absent, prioritizing political engagements far removed from his core constitutional obligation as Chief Security Officer of Imo State. This unfortunate pattern of absentee governance has become all too familiar — ceremonial in presence, but indifferent in substance, always deflecting while lives are lost and communities suffer.

A government that fails to respond promptly, decisively, and compassionately in the face of bloodshed forfeits its moral authority to lead. Leadership in moments of crisis must be visible, humane, and action-driven — not mere public relations damage control.

Governor Uzodimma’s continued refusal to visit Arondizuogu, his failure to name the suspect arrested in connection with the murder of the Ideato North Local Government Chairman, and his vague references to unnamed “prominent politicians” allegedly under investigation, all raise serious questions about the sincerity and seriousness of his administration in tackling the escalating insecurity across the state.

Even more alarming is the glaring contradiction in government messaging. Just days before the Arondizuogu tragedy, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba, while addressing Imo indigenes at a diaspora engagement in the United States, brazenly declared that Imo State is safe and secure. This misleading narrative, now violently contradicted by the gruesome events in Arondizuogu, only serves to deepen public distrust and exacerbate the climate of fear in our communities.

The ADC Imo State Chapter views these developments as a painful reflection of failed governance and political insensitivity of the highest order. The protection of lives and property is the most sacred duty of any government. When a sitting governor trivializes that duty through delay, denial, and diversion, the people bear the brunt — and that, tragically, has become the recurring nightmare in Imo State under the current administration.

On behalf of the grieving people of Arondizuogu and every concerned Imolite, the ADC, under the leadership of its State Chairman, Prof. James Okoroma, demands that Governor Hope Uzodimma put an end to his politicization of security matters. Enough of the rhetoric and media optics — it is time to govern with responsibility, compassion, and courage.

We urge the citizens of Imo to remain calm, vigilant, and security-conscious during these trying times. The African Democratic Congress assures the good people of Imo that a new dawn of people-centered leadership is on the horizon — one that prioritizes lives over politics and governance over grandstanding.

A government that cannot protect its people has failed.

May Citizens’ Lives Always Matter.

Signed:
Dr Okoro Onochie Kingsley Ph.D
Publicity Secretary, African Democratic Congress (ADC), Imo State Chapter.