Insecurity: S/East won't allow criminals to operate under the guise of ESN- Umahi

The Chairman South East Governors Forum and the  Governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. David Nweze Umahi, says  bandits are committing crimes in the South-East region of Nigeria under the guise of the Eastern Security Network (ESN).

He made this statement Wednesday while during an interview with Channels Television's Sunrise Daily. 

Governor Umahi insisted that the governors of the region would not allow what he called illegality to reign in the zone.

“Of late, we have bandits that are now doing a lot of evil and saying that they are Eastern Security Network (ESN).

“They commit a lot of crimes and say they are IPOB and most of the time, IPOB will come and say, ‘We have no hands in this, we have no hands in that," he said. 


He stated that the development has  made it a bit complex in fighting crime, but vowed that leaders of the region would not allow criminals to have a field day in the area.


He stressed that the establishment of the South-East security outfit codenamed Ebube Agu, will tackle insecurity in Igboland.


“We have the command of the law to protect the lives of our people and we would not allow illegality to thrive in our land,” he assured. Conflict will not resolve conflict.”

The governor explained that herders-farmers clashes are not the only threat facing the region, noting that the new security outfit was created to flush out crimes of all forms in the South-East.

He also raised the alarm that there are grand plots to incite war in the South-East, asking the people not to fall for such plans.

“The problem of this country is that people will leave their problems and make your problem their problem,” he added.

 “But what some of these people are doing is to incite the South-East into war and step aside, and we are not going to buy into that; we’re not going to be deceived again.”



The South-East region has witnessed a hike in crime in recent times.
Nigeria’s South-East governors on Sunday established the region’s security outfit in a move reminiscent of the Amotekun in the South-West region of Nigeria.

“That the political leadership in the South East has resolved to bring together all the arsenals at their command, as one united zone, to fight and flush out criminals and terrorist from the zone,” Umahi said in a communique while announcing the setup of Ebube Agu joint vigilante outfit. - Channels.