Nnamdi Kanu rejects suggestion he should hand ESN over to the South East Governors Forum

INDIGENOUS People of Biafra (Ipob) leader Nnamdi Kanu has rejected the offer of handing over control of his local vigilante group the Eastern Security Network (ESN) to the South East Governors Forum saying they will use it to betray Ndigbo.

In December last year, Ipob launched the regional vigilante group ESN to combat the growing insecurity across the southeast and south-south geo-political zones. In January last year, the six governors of the southwest geo-political zone agreed to launch a regional body called Amotekun to combat the growing menace of banditry, kidnapping and insecurity in their states and ESN was established along similar lines.

However, Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State, the chairman of the South East Governors’ Forum, distanced the governments and people of the area from the Ipob security arrangement. Since Ipob made the announcement, the governors have met with the inspector-general of police Mohammad Adamu, with whom they have agreed to form an alternative community policing plan.

Last week, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, the founder of the Biafra Independence Movement (Bim) asked Mr Kanu to hand the ESN over to the governors to make it legal. Dismissing this suggestions, Ipob challenged Chief Uwazuruike to create his own security outfit and hand it over to the governors.

Ipob spokesman Emma Powerful, said: “The attention of Ipob has been drawn to the shameful statement credited to the hotelier and hostel builder in our society who has been parading himself as the leader of a shameless and disgraceful group called Massob/Bim Chief Ralph Elebeanya Uwazuruike, that the God-ordained Eastern Security Network security outfit established by our liberator Mazi Nnamdi Kanu should be handed over to South East governors to manage. How on earth did Uwazuruike think that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu should handover the heavenly ordained ESN to the slaves installed by the caliphate in different government houses in Biafraland?

"His intention of making such stupid suggestion is to turn ESN into another Eastern Region version of the heavily politicised and now toothless security outfit formed in other regions and Ipob cannot fall for their trap. Uwazuruike is not ashamed of himself by trying to use ESN to cover his atrocities in Biafraland.

"Uwazuruike was the man who boasted that he had more boys than Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and that should he unleash his boys no place would contain them. We, therefore, challenge Uwazuruike to form his own security outfit and hand over to the southeast and south-south governors as Ipob and its leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu are capable of managing ESN to pursue its mandate."