Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State says the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, should not be welcomed in the Southeast due to their negative activities.
The governor, who is also vying for the sole presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress, APC, stated this while playing host to leaders and members of the Nigeria Guild of Editors in Abakaliki at the weekend.
According to Umahi, the agitation by the secessionist group is unhealthy for the region, revealing that he had raised the alarm while still a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
He explained that IPOB succeeded in deceiving the Igbos that the geo-political zone is infiltrated with strangers, alleging that they also engage in hate speech.
Umahi said, “There is extreme politics in this region and it must stop, when we started especially before my defection, we were all working together and I was championing it that IPOB is not good for us because of the kind of agitations that were being meted out was not correct.
“First hate-speeches and from there it developed to violence and they have continued to lie to our people that our place has been infiltrated, it is a lie, it is South East killing South East people and the security people and until we are bold to say this, it will continue.”
