THE Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has said the newly created South-East security outfit named Ebube Agu would not be seen operating in six months.
A leader of MASSOB Kingsley Madu said this during a telephone interview with The ICIR on Wednesday in reaction to the establishment of Ebube Agu.
“Even though they have announced Ebube Agu security outfit, we cannot condemn that, but I know in the next six months we cannot see anything like Ebube Agu operating. I am not seeing anything positive in Ebube Agu, but at the same time I am not condemning it,” Madu said.
He stated that Ebube Agu might not live up to its expectation because of the method by which it was created.
Governors of South-East states in Nigeria had, on Sunday, launched a regional security outfit called Ebube Agu to tackle security challenges in the Eastern part of the country.
According to Madu, there must be a consultative meeting with relevant stakeholders for Ebube Agu to be functional.
He further said that the security outfit must be made to function independently and not under other established security agencies.
“Ebube Agu must function independently and not in the hands of Nigerian Police, Army or security chiefs. Let it be an Igbo native security outfit as the name implies. It shouldn’t be allowed to be controlled by the Nigerian security agencies who incidentally are Fulanis themselves,” the MASSOB leader stated.
On whether Ebube Agu was set up to sabotage the Eastern Security Network, Madu said MASSOB did not see it that way, noting that they were two faces of a coin.
“Ebube Agu is like another face of the coin. ESN can be working underground, while Ebube Agu would be a normal security outfit. ESN is still there, their impact is being felt so they are not opposing themselves,” he noted.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) had said Ebube Agu was set up to sabotage the ESN created by its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
Spokesperson for IPOB Emma Powerful said this in a statement on Tuesday, stressing that there was no need for another security outfit because of the existence of ESN.
“However, whether or not they were under any influence, we want to remind them that there is no need for them to form another security outfit in our land since we have our formidable ESN.
“Any other security outfit formed in South-East will crash because ESN is already on ground and living up to expectations,” the statement read in part.
Governor of Imo State Hope Uzodinma had said the idea to create the ESN was originally conceived by South-East governors before it was hijacked by IPOB and used for perpetrating crimes.
There have been several violent clashes and confrontations between the Nigerian Army and the ESN, leading to the death of many and the destruction of properties.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via [email protected], on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94