Okorocha asks from American envoy list of Imo citizens in US prisons

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has asked visiting US Consulate General in Lagos, John Bray, for a comprehensive list of Imo sons and daughters who are serving various jail terms in the US prisons, along with the offences for which they were accused, tried and convicted.

Bray was in Imo on Wednesday to “look at the political, social, economic and cultural issues as they affect the South-East (geopolitical) zone.”

Governor Okorocha told the US envoy that Imo had her sons and daughters in the US prisons, with some of them guilty as charged, while some of them were victims of social circumstances.

“We have most of our sons and daughters in the US prisons. Most of them are languishing in jails. Some of them are also guilty as charged, and some of them are victims of social circumstances.  I want to appeal that the names of such Imo sons and daughters be made available to me, with the offences they have committed; so that we take a look at them,” said Okorocha.

According to Okorocha, if the people are those the state government can bring back on bail, “we will do that, and bring them back to the state and provide for them, as hope has come to the state.”

The governor said they were concerned as a people and as a government, adding that the dossier of such Imo sons and daughters was needed so, the state government can facilitate their release and integrate them back into Imo community.

To him, “the great partnership between Nigeria and the US has been of immense help to the state; and most of the Imo sons and daughters have got themselves equipped technologically as a result of being trained in the USA.”

He solicited that the state needed assistance in the area of communication, especially upgrading the Internet facility in the state, which he said would help in connecting the state to the rest of the world.