There are plots to incite war in South-East —Umahi

EBONYI State governor, Dave Umahi, has raised an alarm over a plot by some persons to incite war in the South-East.

Speaking during an interview on Channels Television, Umahi said bandits were committing crimes in the South-East under the guise of the Eastern Security Network (ESN).

Although he didn’t reveal names or identities of the individuals involved, the governor warned that governors of the region would not allow what he termed illegality to reign in the zone.

“The problem of this country is that people will leave their problems and make your problem their problem. But what some of these people are doing is to incite the South-East into war and step aside, and we are not going to buy into that; we are not going to be deceived again,” he said.

“Whether it inspires confidence or not, it does not matter to me. What matters to me is that our people will be satisfied with our efforts in protecting their lives and property. People must be very careful, and know that there are grand plans by people who have no interest in the South-East to incite them into war and we are wiser than that.”

Governor Umahi said the regional security outfit, Ebubeagu, recently launched by the South-East governors, was not formed in a hurry, adding that the only recognised security outfit in the region is Ebubeagu.

He explained that he and his other colleagues from Abia, Anambra, Enugu and Imo would fight insecurity within the ambit of the law.

While blaming some politicians for the insecurity in the region, he said: “Ebubeagu is to protect the lives of everyone in the South-East,” the governor stressed.

Recently, the eastern part of the country has come under intense attacks as gunmen assail residents, police formations and prisons, freeing thousands of inmates. This forced the governors of the region to launch a security outfit to complement the efforts of the security agencies in the fight against crimes.