ONSLAUGHT AGAINST IPOB/ESN OPERATIVES:IMO GROUP URGES SECURITY AGENCIES TO RESPECT HUMAN RIGHTS, AVOID KILLING INNOCENT CIVILIANS
Owerri – Following the announcement by the Imo State Commissioner of Police, CP Aboki Danjuma of a renewed onslaught against IPOB/ESN operatives, a pressure group, Igbo Ezuo has urged the Government to prevail on security agencies to respect human rights and avoid killing of innocent civilans.
This was contained in a statement made available to journalists by the group’s Public Relations Officer, Nze McAnthony Duru (Ph.D).
Recall that the Imo State Police boss, Danjuma had recently vowed to “dismantle whatever that is left of the separatists network and their sponsors after the attack on a correctional facility in Okigwe, Imo State which took place on the 12th of February, 2024.
Addressing news men in the the State capital, the police commissioner said that both his tactical team, the Nigerian army, and other sister security forces will be mobilised throughout the state and beyond to fish out the perpetrators, IPOB members and their collaborators.
He warned that their response will be heavy, intensive and sustained over a long period to ensure that the state and its environs is cleared of every undesirable elements and trouble makers parading themselves as IPOB/ESN members.
However, Civil Society Organisations and Human Rights groups are calling on government not to kill innocent citizens citing previous police interventions which often resulted in the loss of innocent lives both in the affected communities and beyond.
However, in its reactions, the Igbo Socio Cultural Organisation, Igbo Ezuo, has cautioned the government to show some restraints and respect for human rights and dignity while going after the perceived perpetrators and their sympathisers arguing that the police should be better equipped to be more proactive instead of reactionary in the handling incidents such as this.
In the past, there has been allegations of killing of innocent civilans, rape, burning of houses and other human rights abuses levelled against security agencies in the state, in the course of their combatting said IPOB/ESN operatives.
