Ebonyi State government has denied setting a vigilante group known as Bakassi Boys to destabilise the activities of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the state.
There have been rumours that allegedly spearheaded by a group, The Biafra Restoration Voice (TBRV), that Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State commissioned the said security group to destabilise IPOB.
According to TBRV on its facebook,” Governor David Umahi has just commissioned this group of men called “Bakassi Boys” in Ebonyi, their job and mission is to attack IPOB members and so on”.
The group alleged that the inauguration of the Bakassi Boys came after a purported meeting with the state government and a former governor of the state at the Government House in Abakaliki
Read also: Oyo House passes anti-corruption agency bill into law
But dispersing the rumour on Monday, the commissioner for internal security and boarder peace, Stanley Emegha said the state has no other internal security outfit except the Neighborhood Watch.
He described the information as strange and urged the people to disregard it.
“This is a strange story as far as the state is concerned. There is no security outfit that can be established in this state without the knowledge of the state government. There is nothing like Bakassi Boys or ISAKABA, IPOB, MASSOB or whatever you call them. People may stay in their homes based on their agitations and say they are IPOB or MASSOB or they are this or that but they are not known in Ebonyi State because their activities are against the law of the land.
“What we have which is constitutionally approved by our House of Assembly is the state Neighbourhood Watch and everybody knows their activities. It is recognised worldwide and security agencies in the state know their activities and that is the only thing we know in the state and we have as a security outfit. Their conducts have limitations; there are certain extents they don’t go. They give tips to police, their activities do not cross this level and they are purely to checkmate pocket of crimes,” said Emegha.
