…Governors to hold summit on new regional security outfit

From Everest Ezihe, Owerri

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

Uzodimma, who disclosed this at a meeting with members of the Imo State 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), regretting that 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 who noted that South East governors have been put under pressure to unveil a security outfit, since after the formation of Amotekun by their South West counterparts, noted that the Governors would not want to be a copy cat, as the new outfit will be different from others.

“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.

“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 knew 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.”