The Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma has revealed that he was the one that brought soldiers into the Orlu community of the state.
Speaking at a press briefing on Friday through the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barr. Cyprian Akaolisa, the Governor accused the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) led by Nnamdi Kanu of planning to use the Eastern Security Network (ESN) to cause trouble in the area.
He said the group, hiding under the pretext of chasing out Fulani herdsmen from the area plan to cause havoc in the community but he moved against them by bringing in the soldiers to maintain peace and secure the area.
He said further that the ESN had already killed several policemen and innocent residents of the area but he had to move to stop further bloodshed.
Naija News recalls the heavy military presence in Orlu has caused further tension in the area with a cross-section of Nigerians taking to Twitter to condemn the act and demand a withdrawal of the soldiers.
However, explaining the military presence, Governor Uzodinma said: “The attacks on police stations and killing of policemen during #Endsars were carried out by IPOB and not protesting youths for the sole purpose of hijacking and stealing weapons.
“They are now using those arms to destroy Orlu.
“They killed 10 policemen, a prominent Orlu son, Ignatius Obiezu, and one Emmanuel Okeke (Soludo) collected their Hilux vehicles
“The IPOB also shot and killed four Moslems doing their business in Orlu.
“IPOB said they were looking for herdsmen, but these victims they killed before the crisis, were they herdsmen?
“We heard Nnamdi Kanu celebrating the activities of his men in Orlu that they are doing well by killing innocent citizens. There’s no Fulani herdsmen in Orlu.
“So, we asked ourselves, what is the colouration that IPOB is trying to give this onslaught in Orlu?
“That’s why our government decided to invite military to flush out IPOB and their so-called ESN.
“We discovered that there was a camp which IPOB established at Umutanze, Orlu and we sent police to dislodge them. But, it happened that they attacked the policemen and killed two of them. It was after they killed those policemen that government had to bring in the military.
“It was not easy for the military to push them out of that place. But the military succeeded. That was why they came on a reprisal attack and killed the innocent ones.
“They also relocated to Udah in Orsu LGA, a camp at a boundary between Imo and Anambra States. The place is a very depressed groove that no one can easily enter.
“For the past two weeks, surveillance was monitoring that place and there were more than 200 people being trained in that camp. The military had to deploy their arsenal to diminish the IPOB people there.”
The governor expressed surprise that people could call for withdrawal of soldiers from Orlu.
“We can’t do that. We can’t fold our arms for these boys to continue to kill people everyday”
Meanwhile, the Imo State government has vowed to arraign suspected operatives of the Eastern Security Network arrested in the Orlu-Orsu area of the state for murder.
The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Cyprian Akaolisa, stated this while speaking with newsmen on Friday.
Akaolisa in his statement described the security outfit as hoodlums, he added that they will be treated as murderers by the state government.