The people of Ogwuaniocha community, Ogbaru Local Government Area, Anambra State, on Thursday accused the security taskforce of using masked pointers to arrest and label them members of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Eastern Security Network (ESN).

Spokesman of the community, Chief Christopher Obumsele, said that the latest of such operations was the arrest of one Mr Jude, a lecturer at Nwafor Orizu College of Education, Nsugbe, and three others.

The spokesman accused the security men of working with a rival group in the community to suppress them over Igweship crisis that had torn the community into shreds.

“We are the Odua-in-Council, people of Ogwuaniocha. Our problem is that the security men here in Odekpe, Oniitsha, are working with our opposition group. The opposition acts as pointers to the security operatives who arrest and label us ESN members as they detain us.

“We no longer go to or from Onitsha at present because the opposition is at the military checkpoints as pointers and whenever our people want to pass through the checkpoints, the opposition (pointers) that are masked, will point at us for arrest.

“Just recently, a US Embassy convoy was attacked at Amiyi, which is not in our community, a very far place, but the opposition told the military that we are the ESN members that attacked the team and a joint security taskforce stormed our community, killed one person that was not a member of ESN, set four shops ablaze and a house.

“In our community because of Igweship crisis that has been lingering for years, there are two warring factions, the Odua-in-Council, that is, the entire people in the community, led by the oldest man, and the Oliver-led group. We plead to Governor Charles Soludo, to come to our rescue by prevailing on the security men to stop the constant arrest of our people and to release the lecturer who is not a member of ESN.

“The lecturer was returning from a peace meeting in the community when he was arrested by the security men through a masked pointer and has been in detention for about two weeks now,” he alleged.

In his own contribution, a member of the Odua-in-Council, Chief Paul Ijeoma, said that what the opposition wanted was to sack them from the community and take over the entire place.

“They petitioned to government that our community is the base of ESN and that it was from our community that those unknown gunmen came from and attacked and killed the US Embassy convoy, which is false. But they said it for us to be killed and then they will take over our community.

“The security should stop arresting us with the help of pointers who they work with. Those security men should stop involving themselves in community matters, we are not ESN members as they tag us to intimidate and assault us,” he further alleged.

Also, a community chieftain, Chief John Adigwe, alleged that apart from the lecturer, three others who were arrested by the military masked pointers included, Mr Ozogo, his brother and Chief Odua.

“They were returning from a peace meeting when they were arrested through the use of pointers and labelled ESN members. These people arrested have no business with ESN and our community is not a base for ESN as they claimed in their petition to the government.

“Our case is Igweship crisis of which the matter is in court. Governor Soludo please prevail on the security men to stop arresting and tagging us ESN in favour of our opposition group. What have we done to the security men that they should be biased in carrying out their national assignment?

“We plead for the immediate release of our son, the lecturer at Nsugbe College of Education and others that were tagged ESN and detained. We are law-abiding citizens and have been in peace until the Igweship crisis came up. Some who thrive in crisis now use it to cause crisis in the community and label us ESN members,” he lamented. (Daily Sun)

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