Following the inability of the South-East Governors led by David Umahi of Ebonyi State to established a security outfit to safeguard the region.
World Igbo Congress (WIC) has thrown its weight behind the Eastern Security Network (ESN) created by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.
The Congress, in a statement by its Public Relations Officer, Basil Onwukwe, said establishment of ESN will put a stop to the array of insecurity bedeviling the South-East zone of the country, just like the Miyetti Allah for the North and the Amotekun for the South-West.
He said: “The Eastern Security Network is the only security outfit available to secure our hinterland like the Miyetti Allah for the North and Amotekun for the South-West. We have been maligned, annihilated, our women being raped and our farmland deserted. The problem is that the bandits who occupied our lands only survive in the bush by kidnapping us for ransom.
“It is very worrisome that the terror that is unleashed on us has not attracted any solution or deterrent measures from the Federal Government of Nigeria to date.”
“The most recent intelligence report by Anderson of the United States (U.S.) State Department has expressed concern of Islamic extremist expansion in Nigeria and how Boko Haram Islamic extremists are looking to expand further south into the Littoral states of Imo, Ebonyi and other southeastern states.
“The World Igbo Congress knows the consequence of a failed state and we call on the Federal Government of Nigeria and the state government to avoid escalating hostilities in Igboland but find time to fight the insurgents that are making their way into the country from the North-East.
“World Igbo Congress holds sacred the sanctity of life of every human being and as such, our support for ESN is our belief that the modalities that will guarantee the security of Igboland will be paramount. The WIC is ready to engage with any security outfit that is willing to secure Igboland to ensure the protection of lives and property.
“The government must de-escalate the tension in our land, avoid provoking the harmless volunteered youths who have refused to watch bandits rape our women and kill our people. The youths that are volunteering to secure our land can be reached peacefully for consultation not by force or act of destruction.”
