The Abia State government denied that the government planned to involve members of the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) and its militia arm, Eastern Security Network (ESN) to assist in confronting marauding herdsmen and protect farmers in the State.
The Special Adviser to the Governor, Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma said: “Our attention has been drawn to a post by a faceless blogger alleging that the Governor of Abia State, His Excellency, Dr. Alex Otti, OFR, ‘has approved the involvement of IPOB’s Eastern Security Network (ESN) to confront Fulani Herdsmen and Protect Abia Farmers, following the continued inaction of Nigerian Security Forces.’
“It’s important to state that the above statement is false, malicious and misleading, and has nothing to do with Abia state government led by Governor Alex Otti. The post is intended to create disaffection and cause unnecessary tension in the state.
“The authors of the statement had issued a similar fake statement a few weeks ago, but we intentionally ignored them , however, we feel it has become necessary for the government to respond to the latest statement so that innocent and unsuspecting members of the public will not fall prey to such a dubious fabrication.
“For the records, the government of Abia State under the leadership of Dr Alex Otti could not have contemplated embracing the services of non-state actors to fight criminals and insecurity of any kind in any part of the state.
“The state government’s confidence in our various security agencies led to the establishment of the state’s joint security taskforce codenamed ‘Operation Crush.’ The joint task force recorded tremendous success in the entire state and has kept the state safe and secure, despite skeletal cases of armed robbery and kidnapping which the government is working assiduously to eliminate.
“Those who have decided to play dirty politics by inciting fear and violence against the state and its citizens, not minding the danger they pose to the lives and properties of Abians, should know that their actions will attract severe consequences whenever they are caught.
“The government hereby enjoins Abia residents to ignore the false statement and see it as another move by desperate enemies of the state to present it in a bad light for their selfish agenda.”
