Biafra: IPOB’s Special Counsel Issues 'To Whom It May Concern'

Aloy Ejimakor, the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB’s) Special Counsel on Wednesday described as senseless, the 'constant deployment of soldiers on the streets of South-East' in Nigeria.

Ejimakor in a tweet on his known handle vowed that heavy military presence in the Biafran region won’t stop the agitation for Biafra nor halt the activities of the controversial Eastern Security Network (ESN), a vigilante group.

To Whom It May Concern:
This constant deployment of soldiers on the streets of SE, arrayed & fitted for battle, doesn’t make any sense. It won’t stop the agitation for #Biafra. It won’t stop #ESN. Instead, it creates a siege mentality that fuels the agitation & validates ESN.

— aloy ejimakor (@AloyEjimakor) February 17, 2021

"This constant deployment of soldiers on the streets of SE, arrayed & fitted for battle, doesn’t make any sense," Ejimakor wrote.

"It won’t stop the agitation for #Biafra. It won’t stop #ESN.

"Instead, it creates a siege mentality that fuels the agitation and validates ESN."

Snapshot of Pro-Biafra group, IPOB

Now-proscribed IPOB is a Biafran separatist organization in Nigeria. Its main aim is to restore an independent state of Biafra in the South East of Nigeria through an independence referendum.

The group was founded in 2012 by Nnamdi Kanu, a British Nigerian political activist known for his prominent advocacy of the contemporary Biafran independence movement.

Nigerian military-ESN clashes in South-East

In January, no fewer than 10 people were reported killed, and many others injured when soldiers from the 32 Artillery Brigade, Obinze, near Owerri, allegedly engaged in a bloody clash with volunteers of the ESN formed by the outlawed IPOB in Okporo community in Orlu Local Government Area of Imo State.

The ESN volunteers were allegedly deployed to the bushes and forests around Orlu to dislodge some criminal herdsmen said to have occupied the forests of South East.

READ ALSO: Nigerian-Biafran War Never Actually Ended, Says IPOB’s Special Counsel

Five buildings, including a church, were allegedly set ablaze by “some armed security operatives” who stormed the area said to be the operational base of ESN.

The Commander, 32 Artillery Brigade, Yusuf Tukura, alleged that the group first killed security personnel, which necessitated the bloody reprisal.

It was at least the second time the ESN and Nigerian security forces would clash.