IPOB: S’East Govs Compiling Our Names to Hand over to FG
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has accused the Southeast governors of compiling the names of its members to hand over to the federal government. IPOB, a Biafran separatist organisation, alleged that the federal government and its security agencies were behind the plan with a view to weakening the organisation and the Eastern Security Network (ESN). This was contained in a statement IPOB’s spokesman, Emma Powerful issued yesterday, claiming that the governors had started compiling their names with the support of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and some traditional rulers. This came in the heels of the pledge by South East governors to resist attempt by IPOB, to frustrate its new security network, codenamed Ebube Agu. Chairman of the South East Governors Forum and Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi said the Eastern Security Network, ESN, set up by IPOB was an illegal entity which the governors would not want to lose sleep over. He said: “The problem of this country is that people will leave their problems and make your problem their problem. ”But what some of these people are doing is to incite the South-East into war and step aside, and we are not going to buy into that; we’re not going to be deceived again.” He said Ebube Agu was created primarily to protect lives and properties in the South East. In its statement yesterday, IPOB, which had been outlawed as a terrorist organisation, also accused the Igbo leaders of attempting to clamp down on the Eastern Security
Network (ESN), which it runs as a security arm. “This wicked move was suggested by the Nigeria Government and her security operatives with the hope to weaken IPOB and ESN making every effort to flush terrorists out of our land,” Powerful said in a statement. “Our efforts to stop terrorists in the East have indisputably intensified since the formation of ESN but regrettably, the politicians and government officials including local authorities in some communities in the South East are sabotaging these efforts.
“The South-Eastern Governors in collaboration with all the Traditional Rulers in the Zone and the PGs of all the communities in the Zone are compiling names of suspected IPOB members in their respective communities to hand over to Nigeria security agencies for possible executions.”
IPOB added that the purported clampdown was because the ESN is seen as a menace in the south-east which has been recording increasing criminal attacks in recent weeks.
It said it has nothing to do with those carrying out the attacks, adding: “We wonder why the government will continue to associate us with that group without investigations.
“The Nigeria Government must understand that IPOB cannot be decimated no matter what they do. The unknown gunmen are not ESN or IPOB,” the group said.