Ebonyi State Governor Dave Umahi said on Thursday that some criminals are committing crimes under the guise of the indigenous population of Biafra (IPOB) and the Eastern Security Network (ESN) in the southeast.
The governor gave this during an interview for breakfast on the Sunrise Daily program.
“The truth of what is happening is that there are robbers everywhere; there are cultists everywhere. What is happening now in the southeast is that criminals who may not necessarily be members of IPOB and ESN will go and commit crimes and need a name.
“So, it is safer for them to say that they are members of ESN and IPOB, so that they will be covered by the persecution of IPOB and ESN by the Federal Government.
“This is happening in the southeast because IPOB and ESN have said several times that they do not deal with terrorism and violence, and the people who set fire to police stations and kill are not their members. And then how to reconcile the two? ” he said.
The governor called on the governors of the southeastern countries to oppose the ugly trend of attacks on security clothing, especially on police stations in the region.
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“It’s a monster we must not allow to appear in the southeast. When they are done with that (attack on police stations), they will start attacking stakeholders to kill them, ”Umahi said.
IPOB or gunsmith?
The recent attacks on prisons and police stations in the southeast have been blamed on the IPOB, but the group has denied the allegations, saying they are agitators, not gunmen.
Hours after gunmen attacked Nigerian correctional facilities and a police headquarters in Imo State, releasing detainees, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu revealed that indigenous residents of Biafra (IPOB) / Eastern Security Network (ESN) were behind the attack.
In response, the IPOB stressed that they were not gunmen.
“We were not involved in the attack in Owerri and the recent attack on the Onitsha-Owerri road at the Ukwuorji junction.
“It’s not our mandate to attack security staff or prison facilities,” said Emma Powerful, secretary of the media and publicity group.
Meanwhile, the governor of the state of Imo, Hope Uzodinma, in his reaction to the attacks in the southeast, blamed the injured politicians, saying that their goal is to destabilize his government and the government of Muhammad Buhari.
The governor reacted three days after the attackers attacked Nigerian correctional services, and the Imo state police headquarters explained that security agencies had collected intelligence on the perpetrators ’sponsors and their planning that led to the attacks on government facilities.