Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has described the Finland-based leader of the Autopilot, Simon Ekpa, as a businessman feeding fat on the emotions and sufferings of the Igbo, and enjoined the people of the Southeast region to disregard his threats and sit-at-home orders.

Mbah also expressed displeasure over Ekpa’s continued habouring by the government of Finland even when many lives and properties had been wasted by his alleged foot soldiers.

The governor spoke at the weekend when he received members of the House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intelligence, who were on an oversight working visit to the state where they also inspected the construction of the Department of State Service, DSS, Training Institute at Awgu.

He said the import of security underscored his administration’s decision to end sit-at-home hitherto enforced by non-state actors that held the people of the South-East hostage both psychologically and economically, noting, however, that his government was not leaving anything to chance.

He said, “As you may also have noticed recently, they have continued to make attempts, particularly, that megalomaniac, who ironically resides with his family peacefully in Finland, a country where the rule of law reigns, but he encourages the rule of anarchy here and to goad some of our youths to their self-destruction.

“This is also a business for him, pretending to be fighting for Igbo’s interest, but does not know anything about the Igbo or have their interest at heart.

“He creates some kind of siege atmosphere and thrives on it to make a living, continuing to extort and exploit our people, who may not be aware and telling them that he is fighting for their interest. He is just a common criminal”.

Mbah assured the people of Enugu of their continued protection, saying the state could not be intimidated by criminals.

“So, I want to also take this opportunity to call on our people to disregard this threat. We have demonstrated our capacity to provide security for our people and we will continue to do so through the help of our security agencies.

“We cannot be intimidated. We cannot submit ourselves to this seige atmosphere he wants to create in the South-East. We treasure our hard work as a people. So, you can’t love a people and all you do is at the very expense of their existence just to grow followership and gain cheap publicity.”

“It is surprising that the Finnish Government allows this man to reside peacefully in their country and then perpetrate terrorism in Nigeria. And I think this is something your Committee may have to wade into and see how this guy can be repatriated and then be brought to justice.

Speaking earlier, the Chairman of the House Committee on National Security and Intelligence, Hon. Ahmed Satomi, described Mbah as a worthy example for other states in security and good governance. (Sunday Vanguard)

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