By Gabriel Atumeyi
On April 11, 2021, Governors of the South-east region launched a regional security outfit codenamed Ebube Agu (the glory of a tiger) in response to escalating security crisis that threaten to consume the region.
The decision to establish the outfit was reached in Owerri, the Imo State capital, at a meeting that also had heads of security agencies in attendance.
Apparently, the recent attacks on police stations and killings of security agents, attacks on correctional facilities, and the unlawful release of inmates finally sunk in the realisation to the Governors to take decisive actions to check activities of criminal groups in their respective domains.
They have vowed to provide all required assistance to the different security agencies to flush out the masterminds of crime in the region.
This is in addition to a committee made up of security personnel, government officials and relevant stakeholders to coordinate and monitor the implementation of Ebube Agu, whose headquarters would be in Enugu.
A region under siege
The audacity of the perpetrators of crimes in the region seems to grow with each attack, an observation of the sequence indicate.
While many reports have simply identified the perpetrators of these crimes as unknown gunmen, the Governors of the region have laid the blame squarely on the shoulders of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its militant wing, Eastern Security Network (ESN).
Barely 2 days ago, the residence of the Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, was attacked and set ablaze by unknown gunmen who also killed 3 security agents on duty.
This is coming about a week after gunmen attacked the Police headquarters and the correctional centre in Owerri, setting 38 vehicles ablaze and freeing 1,844 inmates.
Police stations have repeatedly come under attack in the five Southeast states, with many officers killed.
According to reports, since February of this year about 30 policemen have been killed in the region with the most latest coming from Enugu State where several stations, operational vehicles and facilities were destroyed.
The Police authorities have blamed the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) for the attacks.
In the early hours of Saturday, April 24, 2021, a tactical team of the Nigeria Police, Nigerian Army, and Department of State Services (DSS), in a joint operation, stormed the operational headquarters of ESN located at Awomama, Orlu East Local Government Area of Imo State, and killed the commander of the group Ikonso, and six others after a gun duel.
The rise of ESN
ESN debuted on December 12, 2020, with an aim to serve as a regional security force to protect the people in the region from criminal Fulani raiders.
The group said the government had failed to act to stop killer herdsmen from attacking innocent inhabitants of the area.
However, the Nigerian government saw the ESN as a threat to its authority, and deployed the army to locate and destroy their bases, resulting in the January 22 Orlu confrontation which lasted for seven days.
After the mayhem and deaths that ensued, ESN declared a unilateral ceasefire and both sides withdrew from the city.
Since then, there have been a series of attacks on government security facilities, which they have denied responsibility for. The Police insist they are responsible for the crimes.
Political undertones
While IPOB has denied the attacks on security personnel, there seems to be an attempt to politicise the crisis.
Governors of Imo and Ebonyi States have countered the Police claim that ESN is responsible for the killings in the region, attributing them to hoodlums, criminals, bandits and even perceived enemies operating under the banner of IPOB.
Some politicians from the Southeast have expressed the view that the security situation is a plot to divide and destroy the region using sponsored bandits in order to deny it the presidency in 2023.
Will Ebube Agu succeed in addressing insecurity in the Southeast?
Many people have posited that ESN flourished because it was filling a security void which respective Governors in the Southeast refused to address.
Speaking to 365Daily, the Speaker of Ndigbo Youth Parliament, Rt. Hon. Rikki Nwajiofor, said the Governors of the region created a vacuum and Nnamdi Kanu filled it.
He expressed the view that if Ebube Agu focuses on its mandate and undertakes it by legitimate authority, the ESN would lose its relevance.
Nwajiofor stated: “The creation of Ebube Agu is a good step in the right direction though it is a bit late. But it is better late than never.
“We had already given the Governors of the region an ultimatum to ban open grazing, which was also included in the reasons for establishing Ebube Agu.
“The existence of ESN is because they created a lacuna. Because they created that lacuna, Nnamdi Kanu, being the leader of IPOB, now formed his own ESN and the people are getting acclimatised with the ESN because the ESN is actually solving a little bit of their problem. They are attacking the perceived enemy.
“But we must not give approval to a security outfit formed illegally, be it good or bad, since it was not formed under the auspices of our Constitution. Nnamdi Kanu is not a constituted authority.
“So Ebube Agu is a good step in the right direction. It will not escalate violence, insecuriy or terrorism. I think it will put a check. But there may be a day when there is power tussle, where the ESN wants to show Ebube Agu that they were here before them or the Ebube Agu people will say, we have the legal backing of the government.”
For the President-General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Professor George Obiozor, what matters is that the insecurity in the region is address.
Speaking to 365Daily, he said: “Any organisation that is working for the security, peace, safety and interest of the Ibos is welcomed.
“Ebube Agu was formed by the government and governments of the Southeast. The Governors, the government, there is no comparison between them and any other organisations. Any organisation should come under the control of the government.
“Any organisation that is fighting for fairness, equity and justice for Ibos is welcomed. If there is a difference, it will be method. It has to be harmonised. As the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, I don’t want any method that puts Ibos in harm’s way. That is inimical to our own safety.”
Also speaking to 365Daily, Dr Law Mefor, a Public Affairs Commentator and lecturer at the International Institute of Journalism (IIJ), said though Ebube is belated, it is a step in the right direction.
He said: “Ebube Agu, as the regional response of the South East Governors to the growing insecurity in the zone in particular, is belated but welcome all the same.
“It should have come when the Southwest came up with Amotekun nearly 2 years ago. In their pussyfooting, IPOB filled the space with the Eastern Security Network – ESN.
“Insecurity in the Southeast just like in the rest of the country, is as a result of politicisation of security. It is sadder even that because of the determination of the Southeast Governors to be politically correct, the zone which was the safest place in Nigeria has now become a major fault line.
“For me, therefore, insecurity in the Southeast is majorly created by the docility and fear of the Governors.”