The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has asked the people of the South-East to hold the region’s security outfit, Ebubeagu, responsible for the killings and kidnappings in the zone.
The IPOB’s Director of Media and Publicity, Emma Powerful, in a statement on Monday in Awka, alleged that the creation of Ebubeagu was only meant to harass, intimidate and depopulate innocent Igbo youths.
The Ebubeagu was launched by the South-East Governors in 2020 in a bid to check the region’s security challenges.
IPOB declared the Ebubeagu operatives persona non-grata and charged its military arm, Eastern Security Network (ESN), to go after them.
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The statement read: “We, the global movement and family of the Indigenous People of Biafra, under the command and leadership of Mazi Nnamdi Okwuchukwu KANU wish to state unequivocally and openly to all and sundry that IPOB is about to unleash its venom on the terrorist Ebubeagu for the countless massacre of our people, especially in Imo State.
“IPOB is very much aware that the murderous members of Ebubeagu were drafted from militants in the coastal part of Biafra (South-South), Fulani bandits, and some notorious criminal Igbo boys.
“The objective for the creation of this murderous outfit is not to stop criminal activities but to harass, intimidate and depopulate innocent Igbo youths, which they have been doing unchallenged for a while now.
“This evil outfit conducts illegal arrests of people and extorts hundreds of thousands of Naira as ransom before their hapless victims are freed.
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“Those who are not able to raise the thousands demanded of them for their freedom are killed. This murderous militia takes as much as N500,000 from their unfortunate victims. We have evidence of those they extorted to bail themselves with such exorbitant amounts before they were freed.
“IPOB has the responsibility to defend our people and our land against invading terrorists. We are therefore declaring every Ebubeagu member a persona non-grata in Igboland. Going forward, IPOB leadership has given a matching order to ESN volunteers to go after the murderous Ebubeagu group and stop them from killing our people.”