Major Babagana Monguno, the National Security Adviser (NSA), has stated that authorities are making gains in the southeast, as the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Eastern Security Network (ESN) no longer holds sway.
Monguno revealed this feat and many others on Thursday, December 01, 2022, during the weekly Ministerial Briefing organized by the Presidential Communication Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, during the deployment of its multi-billion-naira Falcon Eye Maritime Intelligence Facility.
What he said: The NSA revealed that some of IPOB’s main leaders, including IED experts, had been detained and large camps had been destroyed.
“The Indigenous People of Biafra, also known as IPOB, and its militia wing, the Eastern Security Network, have emerged as a very potent separatist group in the country and equally a major threat to national security.
“However, their activities are being significantly curtailed, as there’s now a marked decline in the number and scale of attacks due to increased security operations by security agencies.
“Apart from the reduction in attacks, some of the group’s key commanders, including IED experts, have been arrested, while major camps have been destroyed.
“Overall, security forces are gradually stabilising the socioeconomic landscape in areas where IPOB terrorised law-abiding Nigerians in the past.
“The armed forces and other security agencies are sustaining these efforts,” Monguno said.
About IPOB
IPOB is a nationalist separatist group in Nigeria that aims to restore the Republic of Biafra, a country that seceded from Nigeria prior to the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970) and later re-joined Nigeria after its defeat by the Nigerian military. IPOB and its arm wing the Eastern Security Network are populated with Southeastern believers. They are also allied with the Anglophone Cameroonian independence movement.
About Biafra: Biafra was established on 30 May 1967 by Igbo military officer C. Odumegwu Ojukwu. Biafra was a response to a series of ethnic tensions and military coups after Nigerian independence in 1960 that culminated in the 1966 massacres of Igbo people and other southeastern ethnic groups living in northern Nigeria.
The Nigerian Civil War our parents talk about: The military of Nigeria proceeded to invade Biafra shortly after its secession, resulting in the start of the Nigerian Civil War (also known as the Nigerian-Biafran War).