The Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, yesterday, said the state cannot be part of Biafra, citing the manner with which agitators engage in killings, and infringing on fundamental human rights of innocent people of the zone.

Umahi made the statement while addressing stakeholders and All Progressives Congress (APC) members during elder/widows party, which was held at the Ecumenical Centre, Abakaliki, the state capital. The governor said Simon Ekpa’s group is terrorising the South East, and vowed that they must be flushed out, especially as the 2023 general elections approach.

The governor said that the state can’t be part of Biafra, and lamented on continued killings and destruction of life and property in the region, adding that the manner has gone beyond the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

According to him: “When this agitation for Biafra started, I told them that this matter will go beyond Kanu. And today, it has gone beyond Kanu. Every criminal says he is IPOB. Every criminal says he is Eastern Security Network (ESN).

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“Now, we have another bandit called Simon Ekpa. Is this the Biafra we desire? To be killing ourselves and displacing others? That’s why we said, in the heat of that crisis, that Ebonyi can never be part of Biafra. We are not Biafra.

“If Biafra is about killing ourselves, going to the market and shooting people, declaring sit-at-home and destroying the economy, then we cannot be part of it. These things are strange to our culture.

“They have killed a lot of Ebubeagu operatives, who are trying to protect our people. I ask all council people to give us information, because we are ready to enter the forests to flush out these bandits.”

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