A socio-political group, Concerned Imo Assembly (CIA), has accused a Finland-based blogger, Simon Ekpa, of recruiting criminal gangs in the southeastern region of Nigeria.
The group which disclosed this on Sunday after a general meeting in Owerri the capital of Imo State, said the former IPOB ally had recruited the gang as a faction of the Eastern Security Network (ESN), after having a fracas with the leadership of IPOB.
“The criminal gang molest people, destroy property and commit crimes, claiming they are members of IPOB and ESN,” said Hon. Desmond Nwankwo, spokesperson for the group.
According to Nwankwo, members of the gang have been committing violence since the IPOB leadership canceled its sit-at-home in the southeast.
“They’re snatching vehicles, causing violence and saying they are enforcing the Monday sit-at-home that we all know the IPOB called off,” he said.
“We are informing the government and Igbo leaders of Simon Ekpa’s criminal behavior and will hold him accountable for the violence perpetrated by the criminal gang he formed because they terrorize our people, mainly here in Imo,” said the CIA spokesman who added that the group will work with security agencies to use the confessions of some arrested gang members to take legal action against the former IPOB ally.
In November 2021, IPOB announced the suspension of the sit-at-home which it had planned to sustain until the release of its detained leader Nnamdi Kanu.
The group said it hadn’t asked anyone to enforce any sit-at-home, saying anyone asking people to stay home on Mondays and other ‘non-existent sit-at-home’ days was not a member of the group and ESN.