The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has reacted to the death of three suspected members of its militia arm, Eastern Security Network (ESN), said to have been killed by Imo State Police Command on Saturday.
The group alleged that the police in the state, led by Commissioner of Police Abutu Yaro, has turned the killing of youths in the state into a monthly affair.
It accused the police of tagging innocent youths as members of IPOB and ESN to continue with its alleged genocide agenda in the South-East.
IPOB spokesman, Emma Powerful revealed this in a statement on Sunday, as his reaction to the gun duel that allegedly claimed three volunteers of ESN on Saturday.
Police in Imo killed three suspected members of ESN and lost two police officers, when the ESN men allegedly attacked Izombe Police Station in the Oguta Local Government Area of the state.
IPOB has denied that the assailants were ESN members.
“On 13/8/2021, at about 02:45 hours, armed bandits suspected to be members of the proscribed IPOB/ ESN terror group, came in their numbers to attack Izombe Police Station but could not gain access to the station due to the swift response of the ever-alert Imo Command’s Tactical teams and Personnel of Operation Restore Peace of the command who intercepted and repelled the bandits.
“The bandits who on sighting the police engaged them in a gun duel were subdued, due to the superior firepower of the police. They fled into the bush and in the process three of the bandits were neutralised and their arms,” Imo State Police Public Relations Officer, Michael Abattam, told journalists in Owerri, on Saturday.
Reacting on Sunday, IPOB said, “We the global family of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) under the command and leadership of our great leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, strongly condemn the incessant unprovoked killings and attacks on innocent citizens of Imo State by the Nigeria security agencies supervised by the Commissioner of Police Imo State CP Abutu Yaro.
“The victims of this secret genocide are tagged Eastern Security Network, ESN operatives and IPOB members by the wicked security agencies to give them wrong identity and justify their extra-judicial killing. For sure, every Igbo man and woman is IPOB but not ESN. ESN is a child of necessity and not for everybody. It’s for a special group for a definite assignment which is mandated to defend our ancestral land our mothers, wives and sisters against the Fulani invaders.”
Powerful described the killing of people in Imo state and the entire South-East as wickedness, adding that governors, politicians and monarchs would reap evil for keeping quiet.
“It is sheer wickedness for the Fulani-controlled Police and sister security agencies to be killing Imo youths like fowls after parading them as ESN and IPOB members. Our governors, politicians and traditional rulers are keeping mute but we promise you people that it will surely come to you in dangerous ways soon.
“We will no longer allow these double-faced fellows who cannot confront Fulani bandits to be randomly killing our people and label them IPOB and ESN operatives.
“The International community should not believe Nigeria and their lies against IPOB and ESN. The security agencies had tried hard to penetrate ESN but it was not easy for them, then they decided to use propaganda and false information against IPOB and ESN.
“The Supreme Court Administrator assigned to Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, in his desperation to demonise ESN and create confusion in Imo State allowed them to implicate innocent members of IPOB and has been encouraging them to kill his own people but he will one day regret all his actions.
“Any criminal or armed robber caught in Imo State now is branded ESN operative by Fulani Police Commissioner in Owerri. The pictures of those in the story published as arrested ESN operatives are suspects of other offences as well as innocent Biafrans.
“The Nigeria Police have taken it as a norm every month to attack youths and to implicate IPOB and ESN,” IPOB added.
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