AESID demands disbandment of Ebubeagu, release of arrested victims, others

A forum of Ebonyi indigenes has demanded the dissolution of a security outfit in the South-East, state, Ebubeagu.

President of the Association of Ebonyi State Indigenes in the Diaspora (AESID), Ambassador Paschal Oluchukwu, in a statement, alleged that the security outfit is a platform in the hands of the Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, for a political witch-hunt.

The AESID appealed to the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, to use his good offices to see to the termination of the security outfit which it accused of terrorising innocent citizens of the state.

Ambassador Oluchukwu raised concern over what he called persistent attacks being unleashed against dissenting and opposition voices in the state by mercenaries, operating under the guise of Ebubeagu Security Network.

The statement read in part: “In our dear Ebonyi State, the past few weeks have left social media users, critics of the state government and indeed, members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in particular in a thunderbolt as government thugs and agents serving their hireling’s interests have been clamping down on them, abducting, torturing and handing over critics to the Police at points of near death.

“Most disturbing among the many reported cases which our competent sources have tracked and reported to us in the State is the arrest, torture and continuous detention of the spokesman of the PDP, Nwoba Chika Nwoba, in custody despite the grievous bodily harms he received and against the orders of an Ebonyi Magistrate Court that he should be allowed to first go and receive treatments.

“We do not want to imagine that Umahi who had some time last year told a visiting security chief that his government will leave the courts out of the attempts to curb fake news, promising to enact his own law that will regulate the Ebonyi Social media space indeed has fulfilled his vows by even making the Attorney General of the state the final authority for anyone arrested under the law to be tried.

“A section of that outrageous law, sighted by us, irritatingly demands written permission from the Attorney General and the Ebonyi State’s Commissioner for Justice for a victim to be tried or an appeal made at the High Court of the state.

“Consequently, the members of Ebubeagu Security Network which, unlike their Amotekun counterparts in the South West was constituted to checkmate the excesses of marauding herders who have been killing farmers in the region in their numbers have abandoned their supposed mandate to become a witch-hunting tool to hound, hack and crackdown on opposition elements and critics in Ebonyi State.

“In the last two weeks, no fewer than at least 10 persons have been arrested under the guise of this obnoxious law and not less than seven persons have been killed in various parts of the State; two in Akpoha, Afikpo North LGA, one in Akaeze in Ivo LGA, another in Ugwuachara in Abakaliki, two in Ikwo LGA and numerous other incidents of Ebubeagu-initiated terror acts against our people that we may not readily mention for want of space.

“It is needless to recount the ordeals of many journalists who the governor had vowed to continue to chastise with koboko and life bans if they think they have the pen,” the statement said.

While calling on the Nigerian Police boss to act fast, the statement said: “AESID further beckons on the IGP and indeed, all security agents in Nigeria to ensure it protects few voices such as; Charles Otu- a journalist who has maintained his reputation of holding the state government accountable by voicing out against the oppressive attacks on Ebonyians by Ebubeagu and other government agents and also some lawyers such as Amos Ogbonnaya and Ifeany Nworie among others that have remained resilient amidst the raging onslaughts against democracy in Ebonyi State.”

Courtesy (excluding headline) Nigerian Tribune