The Imo state governor, Hope Uzodinma has accused the outlawed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB of hijacking the name of the Eastern Security Network, ESN, from the governors of the Southeast region after they have concluded plans for the outfit’s rollout in the region.
Uzodinma made this disclosure when the members of the State Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ paid him a courtesy visit at the Imo state government house.
According to the governor, the governors of the five southeastern states had already concluded plans for the commencement of the regional security outfit when members of IPOB hijacked the name and used it to commit criminal acts across the the region.
He said “The Attorney Generals of the five Southeastern states had prepared a memo which was accepted by the Governors, Ohaneze Ndigbo and other Southeastern leaders, only for the members of IPOB to hijack Eastern Security Network name”.
According to the governor, the region’s governors are taking a review of the situation with a view to come up with another name for the region’s security outfit to be rolled out soon, adding that the governors will soon be holding a summit in Owerri, the Imo state capital to work out the modalities for the setting up of the security outfit.
Governor Uzodinma said that the aim of the outfit is to make assessment of the region’s security situation and determine how best to tackle them, adding that they would not be copying other region’s security models like the Amotekun in the Southwest.
On the criticisms that has followed the recent military operation against the ESN and IPOB members in the Southeast, as well as the worsening insecurity being experienced in the region, the Governor declared that southeast governors remain steadfast and determined to protect the people of the region at all costs, declaring that “We ( the Southeast governors) will not allow hoodlums to overrun the region because we have a responsibility to protect our people. I want to tell you that there is no failure of governance in the Southeast”.
