Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State has said the South-East does not want war, but rather desires to be a part of Nigeria.
Umahi stated this on Thursday at a media briefing organised by the Presidential Media Team in the StateHouse in Abuja.
According to him, the region does not want secession, adding that the current situation is a mixture of reality, fake news and war propaganda.
Umahi lamented that peaceful agitation has been hijacked, thus leading to violence.
“Are there rightful agitations in the Southeast. Yes. Has it turned violent? Yes. It’s been hijacked,” he said.
He further noted that “anyone who is against the ban on open grazing is saying the killings in the country should continue”.
The governor insisted that the establishment of security outfit, Ebube Agu, which has been passed into law in his state is empowered to arrest anyone found culpable of steering chaos.
Recall that Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba, had launched ‘Operation Restore Peace’ in the South-East, with a charge on the police to live up to their constitutional obligations by taking the battle to the doorsteps of criminal elements in the region.
While flagging off the exercise at the Michael Okpara Square, Enugu, on Tuesday, the IGP expressed dismay at the state of insecurity in the region, stressing that the conduct of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its Eastern Security Network (ESN) was a security threat in the region.
He told his officers that it was their responsibility to restore law and order, adding that the police under the current dispensation would not shy away from its primary mandate of restoring peace and order.
