‘If not for ESN, herdsmen would have ravaged S’East like they did Benue, Plateau’ —IPOB

Outlawed Igbo separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has claimed that if not for its militia arm Easter Security Network (ESN) marauding herdsmen would have ravaged the region, as was the case in Benue and Plateau States.

The group further disagreed what the Nigeria government and security agencies that the it has criminal camps in forests in the South-East.

IPOB, in a statement on Tuesday by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, described the assertion as “well-worn propaganda of government-sponsored media houses linking any alleged criminal hideouts to IPOB” that would henceforth be resisted.

Read also: Security agents arrest five suspected IPOB members in Anambra and Imo raids

Powerful said the “mischievous characterisation of the activities of Eastern Security Network (ESN) that saved the entire South-East and South-South from the murderous onslaught of killer herdsmen now ravaging Benue State and Plateau axis should not be trivialised by attributing any alleged criminal hideout to ESN.”

“ESN Operatives have no criminal camps. We know there is a concerted effort by those seeking the weakening of ESN in order to launch a murderous invasion of the East under the guise of farmers/herders clash,” the statement said.

“ESN exists to keep the east safe from the ravages of killer herdsmen now plaguing the entire Middle Belt and people like them.

“Since the launch of ESN by our Supreme Leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the main objective of ensuring the safety of farmlands in the east has been accomplished.

“Fulani terrorists masquerading as herdsmen have no locus to operate in our farmlands and territory.

“Had it not been for ESN, Fulani terrorists masquerading as herdsmen would have taken over Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi, Imo and Abia States that came under sustained attacks. They would have suffered the same fate now afflicting Benue and Plateau states.

“ESN has come to stay with Biafrans and nothing will change the objectives of the outfit,” he added.

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