The World Igbo Congress, WIC, on Thursday, asked Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma stop all attacks on the operatives of the Eastern Security Network, ESN.
The WIC said ESN has been helpful to checkmate the menace of killer herdsmen in the entire south-east.
WIC expressed confusion about Governor Uzodinma’s actions when placed side by side with his northern states counterparts who have been dialoguing with bandits that have been killing innocent people in the Northern region, unlike the ESN that protects the lives of Ndigbo.
WIC spokesman, Hon Basil Onwukwe, in a statement said the group condemned the recent military attack in Orlu Imo state that claimed the lives of innocent citizens and members of the Eastern Security Network.
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“It’s unfortunate to watch Governor Hope Uzodinma admit ordering the military airstrikes on Imo youths who were volunteering to monitor against the killing and raping by Fulani Herdsmen.
“The Governor of Zamfara recently visited and openly took a photo with hordes of bandits and militants in his area. The other Northern leaders have made numerous ransom payments to kidnappers, including redemption offers and conversion into the national security apparatus.
“The federal government has been encouraging Governor Hope Uzodinma to govern by intimidation and vindictive-destructive mission against Igbo youths.
“What exactly has the ESN done that makes them terrorists or criminals that the Nigerian military has turned Orlu into a war zone? The killing of Imo State indigenes and ESN volunteers that withstood killer herdsmen is unwarranted,” WIC said.
The group noted that it was a height of irony that whereas President Muhammadu Buhari’s defense minister recently admonished Nigerians to stand their ground and face bandits and killer herdsmen, the same Buhari administration permitted the use of helicopter, gunships and artillery against her citizen as requested by Governor Hope Uzodinma to kill the people working to stop the killers.
“Word Igbo Congress is therefore calling on the international community to investigate the heinous act perpetrated by the Governor of Imo state, the rationale that brought the Governor into power from a distant fourth position, and as a matter of urgency place movement restriction on the government officials involved,” WIC suggested.
