I Did Not Ask ESN To Confront Fulani Herdsmen – Gov Otti

The Governor Abia State, Alex Otti has denied allegations claiming that his administration enlisted members of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) to tackle insecurity in the state.

Naijaonpoint understand that there have being rumours claiming that the Otti-led government engaged the ESN to drive away Fulani herders and protect farmers from attacks on their farmlands.

Speaking on Sunday through his Special Adviser on Media, Ferdinand Ekeoma, the Governor described the reports as false and malicious.

Ekeoma said the rumours were deliberately crafted to incite disaffection and cause unnecessary tension in the state.

He noted that similar fake claims had been made in the past but were ignored by the government.

Ekeoma said, “The attention of Abia State government has been drawn to a post by a faceless blogger alleging that the Governor of Abia State, His Excellency, Dr. Alex Otti, OFR, “has approved the involvement of IPOB’s Eastern Security Network (ESN) to confront Fulani Herdsmen and Protect Abia Farmers, following the continued inaction of Nigerian Security Forces.

“It’s important to state that the above statement is false, malicious and misleading, and has nothing to do with Abia State government led by Governor Alex Otti.

“... is intended to create disaffection and cause unnecessary tention in the state.

“The authors of the statement had issued a similar FAKE statement a few weeks ago, but we intentionally ignored them, however, we feel it has become necessary for the government to respond to the latest statement so that innocent and unsuspecting members of the public will not fall prey to such a dubious fabrication.

“For the records, the government of Abia State under the leadership of Dr. Alex Otti could not have contemplated embracing the services of none-state actors to fight criminals and insecurity of any kind in any part of the state.

“The state government’s confidence in our various security agencies led to the establishment of the state’s joint security taskforce codenamed “Operation Crush”.

“The joint taskforce has recorded tremendous success in the entire state and has kept the state safe and secure, in spite of skeletal cases of armed robbery and kidnapping which the government is working assiduously to completely eliminate.

“Those who have decided to play dirty politics by inciting fear and violence against the state and its citizens, not minding the danger they pose to the lives and properties of Abians, should know that their actions will attract severe consequences whenever they are caught.”