The Imo State Government has accused opposition political parties in the state of sponsoring the protesters who attacked Governor Hope Uzodinma’s convoy on Monday in Owerri.

The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba, said the ban on illegal protests had been vindicated following the arrest of armed hoodlums claiming to be staff members of the state oil commission protesting against the non-payment of salaries, who attacked the governor’s convoy.

Emelumba said the fact that people claiming to be workers of ISOPADEC armed themselves with guns and machetes showed that they were hired thugs by the opposition, who were rattled by the public ovation that greeted the governor’s successful inauguration of new roads in Owerri on Friday.

“The opposition is smarting from the irredeemable shame the government’s successes are rubbing on their face and they quickly thought of another protest to take the shine out of the increasingly unbeatable trajectory of Governor Uzodinma’s successes story. But luck ran out of them this time,” Emelumba said.

Meanwhile, the state commissioner of Police, Isaac Akinmoyede, on Monday paraded 15 hoodlums for attacking the governor’s convoy.