State Governors in the South East have raised alarm over threat by members of Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) to kidnap them. The Governor of Ebonyi State and Chairman of South East Governors' Forum, David Umahi raised the alarm on Sunday at Nwaegu Military Cantonment in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state, while attending the official flag-off of Operation Egwu Eke III by the Nigerian Army, 82 Division.
The Governor disclosed that the threat of kidnap from IPOB was received through text message sent to their wives. He maintained that Ebonyi State was not part of the region that formed the sovereign States of Biafra as proclaimed by the IPOB.
“The GOC, you are coming at a time we had note from our brothers and sisters of IPOB sending text messages that there will be no elections and insulting the leaders, particularly the south east governors. Just few days back, they sent text message to my wife that the 5 governors of south east would be kidnapped and that their security would over power that of the governors and after ransom are paid, they would kill them and kill themselves.
“As a leader in the zone I must say that some of their complaints are genuine but the approach is very bad, that is why the leaders of south east are not in support of their approach. And so, we are not against them but their approach. And as the Chief Security Officer of the state, I do not welcome them. Ebonyi state is not part of Biafra, we are a sovereign state.
“We don’t want to be colonised again; we are a state demanding better treatment in the affairs of our nation,” he said.
