THE recently formed Ebube Agu security outfit by the Southeast States may have collapsed. The Governors have not taken any action to ensure its takeoff and there is palpable infighting amongst the governors. Flowing from it, the Chairman of the committee to give birth to the outfit, Major General Obi Umahi (retd.), has resigned his appointment.

The South-East Governors’ Forum had on August 31, 2019, appointed Gen. Umahi as the chairman security committee. The committee was charged to draft a framework for the establishment of a South-East joint security outfit to cater to the security needs of the zone. However since the announcement of the new outfit, the governors seem to have gone to sleep as no funds and other logistics had been provided for the Committee headed by General Umahi, a brother to the Ebonyi State governor.

General Umahi in his resignation letter dated June 4, 2021, titled, ‘Resignation as Chairman South-East Security Committee – Ebube Agu’ and addressed to Chairman of the South East Governor’s Forum, disclosed that his committee was never funded while no office was provided for them throughout the duration.

The letter, which Umahi had confirmed to The PUNCH, read in part, “On 11th April, 2021, SE governors announced the formation of Ebube Agu at Owerri. Subsequently, the draft legal framework produced by the 21-man Committee was reviewed by SE Security Committee members and the Attorney Generals of the five SE States to suit South East Ebubeagu Security outfit.

“The SE Security Committee thoroughly prepared and submitted the modalities, including the structure, for the take-off of Ebube Agu to the Governors’ Forum during the security of South-East Governors’ Forum, attended by the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide and some other Igbo leaders, a request that Ebube Agu should be jointly rolled out as a matter of urgency and also funded by the governments of the five South-East states. From inception to date, SE Security Committee was never funded at all in any capacity and not even an office space was provided

“I respectfully request that Your Excellencies kindly permit me to resign my appointment as the chairman, SE Security Committee. In the spirit of my love to serve Ndigbo, I can assure you that I will always be available to advise on the success of Ebube Agu at no cost.”

Despite a groundswell of legal opinion that enabling laws be put in place in the States to legalise the outfit, none of the State’s Assembly have effectively commenced work on the enactment of the enabling law to give teeth to the outfit. The situation is being viewed by political watchers as kowtowing to the Federal Government which has not hidden its displeasure about the formation of such regional security outfits to check the menace of herdsmen.

Source: Drumnewsonline with reports from The Punch