An Igbo group, Ndigbo Unity Forum (NUF) has called for the immediate disbandment of the controversial Ebubeagu security outfit operating mainly in Imo and Ebonyi states, arguing that the outfit has become a killer squad.
Rising from a meeting yesterday, the group specifically urged Governors Hope Uzodinma of Imo State and Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State to evolve other means of providing security in their states as operatives of Ebubeagu have shown that they are anti people.
It, however, commended the Anambra State Vigilante Services (AVS) set up by the state government, adding that the outfit has respect for human rights and is not known to have abused the rights of citizens and people of the state.
The Chief Media Officer of the group, Mazi Udemadu Chika, who issued a statement after the meeting, condemned what he called the incessant, unwarranted and extra-judicial killings of innocent and unarmed Igbo youths by operatives of Ebubeagu.
According to the group, there have been mounting allegations that Ebubeagu is being used to kidnap and kill innocent people, particularly youths in the South East geopolitical zone.
Chika said that going by what is happening in states where Ebubeagu is operating, the outfit, which was set up to hunt for criminal elements and prevent other crimes in Igbo land, has turned out to be dealing with those they were meant to protect.
The group also condemned unnecessary killings in parts of the zone, citing the recent killing of a trader at Affor Ogidi Market in Anambra State and other unarmed youths on the phantom allegation of having tattoo on their bodies.
“Such reckless waste of human lives by the security outfit that was meant to protect them, had defeated the objective of setting it up”, the NUF said.
It called on the National Hunan Rights Commission (NHRC), and other international human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, to investigate the killings in the South East region.
