Governors of the five states in south-east region on have announced the establishment of a joint security outfit, codenamed “Ebube Agu”.
This was made known in a communique issued at the end of their meeting on Sunday, in Owerri, Imo state capital.
The communique which was read by Governor Dave Umahi, of Ebonyi state, said the establishment of the outfit is part of efforts to tackle insecurity in the south east.
The governors condemned the recent attacks on residents and security facilities in the region, and urged the inspector-general of police to meet with stakeholders to address the situation.
The communique said political leaders in the south-east had resolved to “bring together all the arsenals at their command, as one united zone, to fight and flush out criminals and terrorist from the zone”.
Umahi said the meeting resolved that to achieve this, there is a need to galvanise all the relevant stakeholders in the south-east, the political class, the business community, the bureaucrats and the intelligentsia to provide all necessary support to security operatives in the five south-east states to ensure total success in the fight against criminality in the zone.
“The heads of all the security agencies in the south-east have resolved to exchange intelligence in a seamless, effective new order that will help to checkmate crime in the zone.
“To fast track crime-busting in the south-east, the heads of security agencies have been mandated to draw up a comprehensive list of their logistics and material needs for sustainable success in the fight against criminality, for the immediate provision by the leadership of the south-east.
“The meeting resolved to maintain a joint security vigilante for the south-east otherwise known as Ebube Agu.
“The meeting appreciated the formation of south-east joint security outfit codenamed ‘Ebube Agu’, headquarters in Enugu to coordinate our vigilante in the south-east”, the communique stated.
The governors appealed to the acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman to “stop the influx of IGP monitory units”, and allow police commissioners and state and zonal commands to “handle their cases”.
According to the communique, the meeting resolved that “the acting IGP and other security chiefs do invite the leadership of Ohaneze Ndigbo and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN ) to find out the reason for increasing insecurity of the south-east”.
The communique declared that open grazing remains banned in the region, and called for peaceful coexistence between farmers and herders in the area.
The five states in the south east are Anambra, Abia, Imo, Enugu and Ebonyi.
In July 2020, governors of the six south west states launched
the Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN) codenamed “Operation Amotekun” to tackle insecurity in the region.
The increasing security situation across the country, occasioned by banditry kidnapping, armed robbery and other forms of criminality and the seeming inability of the federal government to address the challenges had left states with no option than to establish alternative security outfits.
