From Stanley Uzoaru, George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
The leader and founder of the Biafra Independent Movement (BIM), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, has appealed to South-East governors to take over the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) security outfit, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), and make it a responsible vigilante force for the region.
Uwazuruike, who addressed a press conference in Owerri on Monday, admitted that the regions needed a security aparatus just like other regions to tackle their insecurity challenges.
‘South-East governors should take the ESN from Kanu. We need security in the South-East; equip and train them so that they will be responsive to the government. So, I urge the South-East governors to take the ESN from him and profile it,’ he said.
Uwazuruike also admonished IPOB Nnamdi Kanu, who he said is responsible for the violent crisis in some parts of the South-East and South-South, saying: ‘He should stop this anarchy in the South-East, he is responsible for the deaths in Obigbo, Enugu and Orlu, he stays far away in America and incites people to cause trouble.
‘Are we living in a state of anarchy? He wants the military to kill us when he is in America with his family enjoying. I have suffered more than any other person; I know the consequences of having the youth to attack the military, because if I do that they will kill me.
‘This person is doing it because he is not here, this person involved is a nobody; I recruited him, but today he is inciting our youths and bringing them to death traps,’ Uwazuruike said about Kanu.
The BIM leader also gave the assurance that the South-East will not be at war with the country again, adding that Kanu is waging a war he cannot win.
‘I’m worried because I started the struggle; if anything happens, accusing finger will always be on me. At no point will Ndigbo go to war with Nigeria, nobody will push us into jostling our young ones; enough is enough.
‘He [Kanu] has lost respect for our elders, he has lost respect for South-East governors, even Ohanaeze – I dont relate with them but I respect them. He does not reason, our leaders are being humiliated and insulted as if that is our culture. I condemn it in its entity… it’s our people, Igbos, who are at the receiving end of his craziness.
‘He is a threat everywhere, those doing it know that they cannot win the war if war is waged. All hands must be on deck. Some governors have tried to make sure sanity prevails. Like Wike in Rivers. In Orlu, Hope Uzodinma stood his ground, I congratulated him; I like how he tackled the problem in Orlu. I urge other governors to follow suit,’ he advised.