From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has said the South East Security Network (ESN) has come to state, boasting that nobody can stop it from functioning.
It claimed anyone trying to oppose the security outfit is testing the will of the people and “does so at his own peril.”
IPOB said this in reaction to Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi’s comment, who distanced his counterparts in the region from the recently launched security outfit, which he claimed did not exist.
IPOB, in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, yesterday, said it was disappointed at the comment, even as it said the governors should have commended the establishment of the security outfit rather than condemning it.
“They only further exposed their emptiness and detachment from the people. At a time when well-meaning individuals and groups from the southern Nigeria and Middle Belt are hailing the setting up of ESN, the governors are busy advertising their opposition to the people they claim to be leading. They never had the mandate of the people. So, we are not surprised.
“But our message to the South East governors and their South South counterparts is that ‘the train has since left the station’ and cannot reverse its course. It is too late to have a rethink.
“The people have got what they long desired, which the governors failed to give them because of selfish political interest.
“May we remind them that the eastern region cannot be sacrificed at the altar of their political interest. It is either they key in or ship out. The East can exist without them. They should steer clear because they cannot withstand the force behind ESN.
“We reiterate that ESN is not a Biafran Army, but a vigilance group, established to protect Biafrans against terrorists.
The outfit is only a child of necessity born to bridge the gap of leadership failure by both states and the federal governments to protect lives and property of Biafrans who are daily dehumanised, raped and killed by Fulani herdsmen and terrorists unchallenged by security agency.
“The governors should know that ESN is beyond IPOB. It is the people’s irreversible resolve to defend themselves against conquest and occupation by aliens who enjoy the protection of the Fulani controlled Federal Government and security agents.
“Anyone trying to oppose the security outfit is testing the will of the people, and does so at his own peril.
“By the action of the governors, it is now obvious the incessant killings of Biafrans in different forests in our land, the destruction of our crops and farmlands, the raping of our mothers and sisters as well as other atrocities of Fulani herdsmen and terrorists in Biafraland enjoy the support of the governors, may be as the condition for their continued stay in office. But that era is gone for good,” Powerful said.