IPOB, ESN not violent organizations but advocates of Igbo liberation, security – Imo Lawmakers

Members of the Imo State House of Assembly on Monday declared that the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Eastern Security Network (ESN) are not violent organisations or involved in arms struggle but advocates of Igbo liberation and regional security.

The Imo State House of Assembly, in a statement assessed by National Daily, indicated that after a painstaking investigation and detailed study of the security crisis in Imo State, the lawmakers found that:

That the surge of insecurity in Imo State has political underpinnings, as such, politically instigated and covertly motivated to achieve some political ends.

The lawmakers in the state have it on good authority that IPOB and the ESN, to their knowledge and understanding, are not organizations founded on the principles of violence cum armed insurrection, rather they are advocates of Igbo liberation and security through peaceful non-violent means.

That the timely passage of the Imo State Security Organization Law by the House was a manifestation of the lawmakers tacit and absolute support to Governor Hope Uzodimma, in his drive to set up an effective, proactive and grassroot-propelled security architecture for Imo State.

The Imo State House of Assembly, therefore, called on critical stakeholders, leaders of thought, the Clergy and Traditional Institutions to rally round the government, in its quest to rid the state of elements of destabilization fomenting trouble in the state.

The state legislators also advocated holding meetings of all stakeholders, youths and political gladiators in their respective domains to further sensitize them on the need to refrain from activities that could further exacerbate the already tense security situation in the state.

The Imo State House of Assembly, thereafter, desalted that there can only be one Governor and one Government of Imo State at a time, warning, as such, those hellbent on truncating the peace and tranquility of the state for political reasons should desist forthwith.

The legislators declared support for the ongoing local government by local government stakeholders interface with the Governor of Imo State, towards getting firsthand security information from the grassroots and proffering plausible solutions to them.

The members of the Imo State House of Assembly commiserated with the families that lost their loved ones in the crossfire, including the family of late Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, a former Speaker of the Adamawa House of Assembly.

The state legislators called for restraint by security operatives in the discharge of firearms, while imploring them to apply professional conducts in the discharge of their duties in the state at all times.

The legislators also called on law-abiding citizens not to be afraid of the presence of security agents in the state but to go about their legitimate businesses. The lawmakers explained that the state government requested for more security operatives in the state for their protection and safety.
The lawmakers further called on Imo youths not to be discouraged by the insecurity in the state but to remain resolute in their support of the efforts of government to ensure peace and tranquility in no distant time, also appealing to them not to be involved in any action that could cause any disaffection between them and the security agents deployed for their protection.