Bakassi Boys won’t be part of Southeast security outfit -Gov. Umahi

Governor David Umahi Ebonyi State has declared the dreaded Bakassi boys will not be part of the proposed south east regional security outfit slated to commence operation soon.
Gov. Umahi had last week announced that south east Governors were making adequate arrangements for the take-off of joint security taskforce in the zone to help tackle some security challenges.
The region has been battling to contain increasing cases of kidnapping, robbery, farmer/herders clashes cultism and other acts of criminality leading to the plan by the Governors of the region to propose forming a regional security outfit.
Umahi’s statement last week elicited commendations in the wake of the launch of a similar security outfit in the Southwest known as Amotekun.
Some groups, including the Ohaneze Youths Council Worldwide (OYC), had called for the incorporation of the Abịa State based Vigilante group, Bakassi boys in the joint security taskforce.
But the Ebonyi Commissioner for Internal Security and Border Peace, Stanley Okoro Emegha on Tuesday in Abakaliki, the state capital rejected such suggestions.
In his words: “We don’t allow that, we cannot accept Bakassi boys in Ebonyi state. We have been running Neighborhood Security Watch and the outfit has been gazetted in our state law.
“Name doesn’t matter the important thing is doing the work and keeping the state safe.
“Actually, all of us are Nigerians. We can see that there is a lot of insecurity in the country. In as must as the federal government is doing their best, the best is not enough.
“They should redouble their efforts in curbing insecurity because it is solely their responsibility to secure lives and properties of the citizenry.
He added: “I know that Abia state is running vigilante and Bakassi and in Ebonyi here Neighborhood watch is really doing the work the way it should be.