A former governor of Anambra State, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, has disassociated the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Eastern Security Network (ESN) from the criminal and violent attacks in the South East.
His statement comes after President Muhammadu Buhari issued a genocidal threat to the region following sustained attacks on federal government facilities and security formations by hoodlums.
Ezeife who spoke Speaking during an Arise TV programme on Wednesday, said investigation carried out by elders in the south-east revealed that such attacks are designed to provoke Igbo people.
He noted that the killing and destruction do not conform to the Igbo character, adding that some of the attacks may have been carried out by people outside the region.
“Anybody who hears the story will be mad at the story. But who are the people who are burning INEC offices? Who are killing the police? There is the impression that some people, maybe even in the government, are guilty of organising such things and blaming it on IPOB and ESN. Efforts have been made by our elders of our people to find out the truth and the hands of IPOB and ESN are not there,” he said.
“I am sure you know that at Owerri prison, there was a lot of devastation and the IG of police blamed it immediately on IPOB and ESN. Even the governor of that state at the beginning thought it was the IPOB and ESN, but now we know that more than 80 percent of people caught by the CCTV footage are not from the south-east or even the east at all.
“Now, Gulak is dead. Was it a design again to blow it on IPOB and the ESN? We are learning more now that there is a design to provoke the east. Igbo do not have the tradition of shedding blood or burning down things.”
