The authorities of Onitsha South Local Government Area of Anambra State have refuted claims by the Indigenous People of Biafra that it was recruiting “fake” operatives of Eastern Security Network, an armed wing of IPOB, to carry out demolitions in Onitsha, the commercial city of the state.
The Secretary, Onitsha South LGA, Paul Onuachalla, said it was untrue that the Transitional Chairman of the council, Chief Emeka Orji, recruited “fake” ESN operatives to carry out demolitions in Onitsha.
Onuachalla stated this in a press statement on Sunday, adding that the claims of recruitment of criminals and thugs as security operatives in the name of ESN was totally false, unfounded and malicious.
Recall that IPOB, through its spokesman, Emma Powerful, had in a statement on Sunday, also alleged that the Onitsha LGA chairman had been impersonating ESN during demolition of people’s properties in Onitsha.
Powerful said, “Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, and his errand boy, Emeka Orji, who is the Transitional Chairman of Onitsha South Local Government Area, are recruiting criminals, who claimed to be ESN operatives and used them to intimidate innocent Onitsha residents. This Emeka Orji recruited and trained his criminal gangs that impersonated ESN.
“The criminal gangs operating in Onitsha under the command of Emeka Orji are not IPOB/ESN. They are common criminals and must be treated as such. ESN operatives are in the bushes combating terrorist herdsmen and their cows. ESN members do not engage in civil matters and do not intimidate or harass innocent people. The government of Soludo and his errand boy, Hon. Emeka Orji, should stop using the name of ESN in their nefarious activities.”
But Onuachalla, who reacted on behalf of the Onitsha LGA, said, “It is untrue that the Transitional Chairman of Onitsha South Local Government Area, Chief Emeka Orji, has anything to do with the Eastern Security Network and or IPOB and or claimed to have recruited anyone from them. Punch
