Governors of the South-East geo-political zone of Nigeria have warned criminals using the name of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, and their military wing, the Eastern Security Network, ESN to commit crime in the region to stop that immediately.

In a press statement issued after their virtual meeting on Wednesday, 30th November, the governors said they “are aware that the insecurity and killings in South East have gone beyond IPOB/ESN as any criminal finds it easy to hide under such a name to commit crimes.” They assured they were determined to do everything to protect the lives and properties of our people.

The statement signed by Engr. Chief David Nweze Umahi, Governor of Ebonyi State and Chairman, South East Governors’ Forum also frowned at a video clip which showed some criminals posing with the head of a purported security officer. The governors also said they were committed to fight against the use of hard drugs in the region.

The statement read:

“We condemn in strong terms the video clip and write-up we saw in some social and print media where two policemen were said to have been killed and their heads cut-off by youths who styled themselves as members of IPOB/ESN. We have resolved among ourselves to work with security agencies to determine the authenticity of this video/report and if found to be true, to apprehend the perpetrators by all possible means to face the law. We are aware of similar videos in the past and which when subjected to forensic review were found out to have happened outside Nigeria. We assure Nigerians especially the Police community that we will not rest until peace is achieved”