The Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, on Wednesday described the Eastern Security Network, ESN, as bandits and criminals.

Umahi made the allegation while accusing the ESN of doing evil within the Southeast forests.

Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ programme, Umahi stressed that the region’s governors would not allow such illegality in the Southeast.

Umahi insisted that individuals would not be allowed to take the laws into their hands.

He said: “And so, we won’t allow people to take the laws into their hands by killing cows and killing people. But I have to tell you that herders/farmers’ conflicts are not the only security challenges we have in South-East, we have the issue of kidnapping.

“And of late, we have bandits that are now doing a lot of evil and saying they are Eastern Security Network.

“They commit a lot of crime and say they are IPOB, and later IPOB will come out and say we had no hand in this, we had no hand in that.”

Leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu had in December 2020 established ESN to combat killer herdsmen and general insecurity in the Southeastern part of the country.

Following the establishment of ESN, a lot of youths in the Southeast have been recruited into the security outfit.

Though the governors and political elites of Southeast Nigeria are playing politics of denial, the masses had welcomed the ESN idea with open arms, saying that it is relief to make up for the failure of Eastern Governors to effectively protect the lives and properties of the people.

Also, there has not been any proves or report that the ESN had terrorized on molested citizens, but have so far successfully succeeded in their stated mandate of riding the Southeast Bushes of terrorist Herdsmen.

The question now is, who’s interest is the ESN and the the Governors are protecting?