Traditional rulers in the Njaba Local Government Area of Imo State have accused the acting local government chairman, Emeka Iheanacho, and other politicians in the area of sabotaging the recruitment of constables for community policing in the area.

Chairman of Njaba LGA Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Caesar Duruegbusuo, made the allegation when he spoke during a stakeholders meeting held at Nkume Community Hall to address the issues that led to #ENDSARS protest across the country.

According to Eze Duruegbusuo, who is the traditional ruler of Amazano community, politicians in the area hijacked the recruitment process and sidelined the traditional rulers, who are the chief security officers of their communities.

The monarch lamented that this was not the instructions Governor Hope Uzodimma gave, insisting that the action was capable of sabotaging the security efforts of the state government.

“Governor Hope Uzodimma gave an instruction that the traditional rulers are to select the people to fill up the community policing list. Unfortunately, the politicians in the local government decided to select their boys. We’re talking about the issue of security. And there is no way you will bring someone to secure any community without the leadership of the community being aware of who is coming.

“So, we reject the list sent for community policing from Njaba. The people we selected for the community policing jobs, as community leaders, were rejected by politicians who substituted them with their loyalists.

“We want to state here that no traditional ruler should be held accountable for any security breach in any community in Njaba LGA. We want our governor to take note of this,” the monarch said.

In his reaction, the LGA interim management chairman, Emeka Iheanacho, debunked the allegations, saying: “We chose only qualified candidates from the various communities in Njaba LGA”.

Iheanacho also denied the allegation that the traditional rulers were sidelined in the selection process, explaining that the monarchs equally made contributions.

He assured that the monarchs would be given the opportunity to make substantial contributions in future recruitments. (The Nation)

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