Operatives of the Eastern Security Network, esbablished by the Indigenous People of Biafra have been dubbed criminals by the Governor of Ebonyi state, David Umahi.

He disclosed this on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ programme on Wednesday.

Describing ESN operatives as bandits doing a lot of evil, Umahi said South-East governors won’t allow illegality to thrive in the region.

He said, “Where there is conflict, it’s not resolved by conflict. If there are farmers/herders’ conflicts which we agree is in the South-East, but it’s not only in the South-East, it’s all over the country.

“And so, we won’t allow people to take the law into their hands by killing cows and killing people. But I have to tell you that herders/farmers’ conflicts are not the only security challenges we have in South-East, we have the issue of kidnappers. And of late, we have bandits that are now doing a lot of evil and and saying they are Eastern Security Network.

“They commit a lot of crime and say they are IPOB, and later IPOB will come out and say we had no hand in this, we had no hand in that.”

IPOB’s leader, Nnamdi Kanu, had in December 2020 launched ESN to protect the people of South-East and South-South regions from terrorists and bandits allegedly trooping in from the North.

The IPOB leader described the outfit as a replica of the Western Nigeria Security Network, also known as Amotekun, earlier launched by the South-West governors to curb insecurity in the region.

“The sole aim and objective of this newly formed security outfit known as Eastern Security Network are to halt every criminal activity and the terrorist attack on Biafraland,” Kanu had said.

“This outfit, which is a vigilante group like the Amotekun in the South-West and the Miyetti Allah security outfit, will ensure the safety of our forests and farmland, which terrorists have converted into slaughter grounds and raping fields.