The World Igbo Congress (WIC) has rejected the formation of Ebube Agu, the regional security network launched by Governors of the Southeast.

The Congress, while citing reasons why the security network cannot work in the Southeast, said that most of the officers who hold the instruments of security in the region are predominantly Fulani.

It also noted that there is no other part of the country in which the Igbo are allowed to hold security authority.

The position of the WIC was contained in a statement by its Public Relations Officer, Prof. Anthony Ejiofor Chairman, on Saturday.

The Congress wondered how Fulani security officers whose kith and kin, the ‘herdsmen’ are the ‘tormentors’ can help protect the people from attacks.

It described the newly launched security outfit as a ruse and antithetical.

The statement read in part: “The World Igbo Congress received the news of the plan to create Ebube Agu by the governors of the Southeast supposedly for the protection of the Igbo and their neighbours.

“On the face value, that appeared to be a laudable move as the Igbo were prepared to heave a sigh of relief believing that the governors have finally heard the cries of the beleaguered Igbo nation.

“Upon a closer look, the move and announcement are more like a sickening and putrid ruse over the eyes of Ndi Igbo by the Governors. The latter view is given credence by the fact that the Ebubeagu scheme was the outcome of a meeting in Owerri between our governors and Maj-Gen Abubakar Maikobi (GOC, 82 Division, Nigerian Army); Air Vice-Marshall Idi Amin (Air Officer Commanding); Yusuf Ishaku (Director, DSS Anambra); A. J. Ibrahim (Director, DSS Abia State), H. E. Abdullah (Director, DSS Ebonyi); B. Likinyo (Director, DSS Enugu), Baba Tijani (AIG, Zone 9, Umuahia); Awosola Awotinde (CP, Ebonyi State); Ahmadu Abdulrahman (CP, Enugu State); and Rabiu Ladodo (CP, Imo State).

“We noted, with dismay, that most of these officers who hold the instruments of security in our land are mostly Fulani. None is Igbo. We also note that there is no other part of the country in which the Igbo are allowed to hold security authority.

“There is an Igbo adage that wisely counsels that you don’t carry a squirrel in the same bag as the corn one intends to plant. Dear governors, it is an established fact that the insecurity in Igbo land is an outcome of the rampage by heavily armed Fulani Jihadists with the euphemism 'herdsmen.' How do you expect Fulani security officers whose kith and kin, the ‘herdsmen’ are our tormentors to help you protect your people from planned utter annihilation? How do you expect the same people whose kith and kin hold the sword of Damocles over our heads to be our defenders? That is antithetical. Governors, beware of the Trojan Horse.”

The Congress, while calling on the governors to immediately halt the move made the following resolutions and demands for the Southeast governors:

1. That the said Ebubeagu security ruse is another name for the roundly rejected “Community Policing” floated by the governors and same hawks a while back. Consequently, this is a none-starter. We see it as a mitigating effort against any plan by the Igbo to protect themselves.

2. That no Igbo who genuinely has the interest of security of life and property in Igbo land should be deceived by this scheme. To subscribe to this ruse is self-defeatist and is an abdication of our inalienable rights to self-preservation.

3. That all governments of the southeast should immediately revitalize our ministries of justice to begin to prosecute violators of the “open grazing law’ by reactivating our moribund solicitors-general offices. In this way, the marauding Fulani “Herdsmen” will be checked. We do not need the listed security officers to be breathing down the throats of our governors for this to happen.

4. That Southeast Attorneys-General must, as a matter of extreme urgency, sue General Muhamadu Buhari and the Federal Government for the lopsided appointments to top positions that have been cornered by the Fulani to the total exclusion of the Igbo and other ethnic groups. This is a brazen and flagrant violation of the Federal Character clause of the 1999 constitution engineered by the same Fulani. The objective is to redress the imbalance so that, in the future, security meetings such as the one held in Owerri on Sunday will not look like a master-servant instructional session.

5. That the governors need to work for and earn the confidence of the citizenry of Igbo land in this matter by putting together a truly people-serving security outfit. Support for the Eastern Security Network (ESN) would be a good place to start. Our leaders must not be seen as tools in the hands of the Fulani who are attempting to annihilate the Igbo through the removal of ESN, which has so far worked to protect the Igbo.

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