World Igbo Congress joins condemnation of Ebubeagu calling it federal government tool

PAN-cultural group the World Igbo Congress (WIC) has become the latest organisation to denounce the regional outfit Ebubeagu created by the South East Governors Forum claiming it is a tool in the hands of the federal government.

Earlier this month, the South East Governors Forum announced plans to launch Ebubeagu, modelled similarly to the Amotekun Corps in southwest Nigeria to provide security in the region. At a security meeting in Owerri, Imo State capital, , the five southeast governors announced the establishment of the body, which will have its headquarters in Enugu.

However, the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob), which has its own armed wing called the Eastern Security Network (ESN), enjoined youths and other people in the area to distance themselves from the security outfit. Ipob spokesman Emma Powerful, said that the formation of Ebebuagu was suspicious, alluding to the fact that it may be used to sabotage ESN.

Now, the WIC has lent its voice to this opposition to Ebubeagu, advising the governors to support ESN to make it a strong security outfit for the Igbo ethnic group. Professor Anthony Ejiofor, the WIC chairman, urged the governors not to allow themselves to be used as tools in the hands of the Fulani ethnic group who have vowed to conquer Nigeria.

Professor Ejiofor said: “How do you expect the same people whose kith and kin hold the Sword of Damocles over our heads to be our defenders? That is antithetical, so our governors need to beware of the Trojan horse.

“Considering the foregoing, WIC rejects the Ebubeagu security outfit, following the circumstances surrounding the announcement after the bulge claim that ESN is involved in the prison break in Owerri, without evidence. WIC will not hold apologies in protecting our homeland when the national security operatives have failed to prosecute a captured Fulani bandit.

"More so, it is an abdication of our inalienable rights to self-preservation. The southeast governors need to revitalise their justice departments and begin to prosecute violators of the open grazing law, by enforcing the laws in their book, which will help in checking the marauding Fulani herdsmen.”

In addition, the WIC urged leaders in the southeast geo-political zone to sue President Muhammadu Buhari for sidelining the Igbo ethnic group from top positions in government. Most of President Buhari's appointments, especially with regards to security positions, have gone to Nigerians of northern extraction.

Professor Ejiofor added: “This is a brazen and flagrant violation of the Federal Character clause of the 1999 Constitution. The objective is to redress the imbalance, so that, in the future, security meetings such as the one held in Owerri will not look like a master-servant instructional session.”