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Insecurity: South East governors to hold summit on new regional security outfit – Governor Uzodimma

…Says ESN was hijacked by IPOB

EVEREST EZIHE writes that Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, has said that governors of the five South Eastern states will be meeting in Owerri soon to fashion out modalities for the setting up of a security outfit for the region.

Uzodimma, who disclosed this at a meeting with members of the Imo Statee Correspondents Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Owerri on Saturday, said that hitherto the Governors had agreed and put in place arrangements to set up the Eastern Security Network (ESN), but the name was hijacked by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu the founder of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), who he alleged used the outfit to commit a lot of mayhem.

The summit, the governor said, will take a holistic assessment of the security situation in the region and determine the best solution to tackling the issue, especially after the recent fiasco of the ESN.

Uzodimma said that the Governors would not want to be a copycat, especially with the pressure put on them after the formation of Amotekun by the South West governors, adding that the new outfit will be different from others.

According to him “In the next couple of weeks, governors of the South East will hold a security summit in Owerri with a view to fashioning out modalities for setting up a security outfit suitable for our region.

We will hold an elaborate discussion with a view to finding a lasting solution and to complement the works of security agents in the country,” he informed.

He further said that “It’s necessary for every zone to be vigilant and have a security outfit, especially with the present situation we have in this country. We cannot lose fate with the management of security in our region and at the same time, we must be careful in the way we go about it.

South East governors tried to set up the Eastern Security Network by working with Ohanaeze Ndigbo. The Attorneys-General of the five South Eastern states have already anchored a report on it and before we know it, IPOB hijacked the name and started using it to commit crime.

“That arrangement has not stopped. We are trying to take a review. We will come up with an outfit that will be lasting. We don’t want to do things because others have done it or be copy cats. There are permutations and we must defend our people and ensure that there is no external aggression.

It’s not failure of government because the primary responsibility of government is to protect the lives and property of the people” he pointed out.

Uzodimma who also spoke on the recovery of property allegedly looted by the former administration, expressed his commitment to ensuring that justice is done.

He dismissed the allegation that the whole issue was a witch-hunt, stressing that the panel of recovery of public property did a diligent job by investigating widely, adding that Eastern Palm University has been gazette while government will soon gazette its finding on the report of the commission of inquiry on lands and related matters.

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