{"id":1873,"date":"2024-07-21T07:17:35","date_gmt":"2024-07-21T07:17:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/?p=1873"},"modified":"2024-07-21T07:17:41","modified_gmt":"2024-07-21T07:17:41","slug":"nigerian-governor-calls-for-simon-ekpas-repatriation-over-killings-in-south-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/2024\/07\/21\/nigerian-governor-calls-for-simon-ekpas-repatriation-over-killings-in-south-east\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigerian governor calls for Simon Ekpa\u2019s repatriation over killings in South-east"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has accused a controversial Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa, of murdering and terrorising residents of Nigeria\u2019s South-east.<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Governor Mbah spoke on Saturday when he received members of the House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intelligence in Enugu.<\/p>\n

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The lawmakers visited the governor after inspecting the construction of a training institute for the State Security Service (SSS) in the state.<\/p>\n

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Mr Ekpa, a Finland-based Nigerian is a leader of Auto Pilot, a faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).<\/p>\n

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The Biafra agitator has been linked to some deadly attacks and enforcement of illegal sit-at-home orders in the region.<\/p>\n

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IPOB is a group seeking to create an independent state of Biafra from the south-east and some parts of south-south Nigeria.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the lawmakers, Mr Mbah also accused the Biafra agitator of being a \u201cscammer\u201d who has been \u201cfeeding fat\u201d on the suffering of Igbos.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you may also have noticed recently, they have continued to make attempts, particularly, that megalomaniac (Ekpa), who ironically resides with his family peacefully in Finland, a country where the rule of law reigns, but he encourages anarchy here and to goad some of our youths to their self-destruction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is also a business for him (Ekpa), pretending to be fighting for Igbo\u2019s interest, but does not know anything about the Igbo or have their interest at heart,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The governor boasted that his administration had ended the illegal sit-at-home in the state and will remain determined to ensure the safety of all residents.<\/p>\n

He also called on young people in the South-east not to yield to Mr Ekpa\u2019s antics and vowed that the state government would not be intimidated by the agitators\u2019 threats.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe (Ekpa) creates some kind of siege atmosphere and thrives on it to make a living, continuing to extort and exploit our people, who may not be aware and telling them that he is fighting for their interest,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

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Mr Mbah asked the lawmakers to consider repatriating Mr Ekpa to Nigeria for prosecution.<\/p>\n

The governor expressed displeasure that the Finnish government has continued to harbour the Biafra agitator while his foot soldiers kill many residents and destroy properties in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is surprising that the Finnish government allows this man to reside peacefully in their country and then perpetrate terrorism in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think this is something your committee may have to wade into and see how this guy can be repatriated and then be brought to justice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough his (Ekpa) statements and his actions, a lot of people have died and he continues in that trajectory. So, this is a tragedy that we must all work as a country to end. He doesn\u2019t represent the Igbo interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The governor assured the lawmakers of his administration\u2019s readiness to assist in the early completion of the SSS training institute, adding that security is too important to be left entirely to one tier of government.<\/p>\n

Responding, the Chairperson of the House of Representatives Committee, Ahmed Satomi, assured of their readiness to work with the governor to ensure security and development in the state.<\/p>\n

Mr Satomi appealed to the governor to assist them in ensuring early completion of the SSS institute.<\/p>\n

The committee chairperson explained that Mr Mbah\u2019s assistance will help to actualise his administration\u2019s lofty vision for the state.<\/p>\n

Reacting in a post on his X handle on Sunday morning, Mr Ekpa suggested that Mr Mbah was among those allegedly killing South-east residents.<\/p>\n

He did not specifically deny or admit the allegations of terrorism and murder against him.<\/p>\n

The Biafra agitator claimed the governor was simply expressing fear for the next sit-at-home order which he (Ekpa) and his group will declare shortly in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe killers of Biafra people are in serious panic again over our upcoming sit-at-home. They have activated again,\u201d he wrote on the microblogging platform, in response to the governor\u2019s remark.<\/p>\n

Biafra agitators often refer to indigenes of South-east and south-south Nigeria as \u2018Biafra people\u2019 or \u2018Biafrans.\u2019<\/p>\n

In a post, Mr Ekpa suggested that he and his group would unleash more terror in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey will see our madness in the coming days,\u201d he threatened.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has accused a controversial Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa, of murdering and terrorising residents of Nigeria\u2019s South-east. Governor Mbah spoke on Saturday when he received members of the House...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1873"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1875,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873\/revisions\/1875"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}