Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, has alleged that Biafran activist Simon Ekpa is a “murderer, fraudster and common criminal who takes advantage of the emotions and sufferings of the Igbo.”

He called on the population of the Southeast region to ignore his threats and orders to stay at home.

Mbah also expressed his displeasure that the Finnish government continued to support Ekpa, while his foot soldiers had already destroyed many lives and properties.

The Governor was speaking at the weekend when he received members of the House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intelligence who were on a working visit to the state and also inspected the construction of the Department of State Services, DSS, Training Institute in Awgu.

He said the importance of security underscored his government’s decision to end the illegal stay-at-home orders enforced by non-state actors that have held the population hostage both psychologically and economically. He noted, however, that his government was leaving nothing to chance.

He said: “As you may have noticed recently, they continue to make attempts, especially that megalomaniac, who ironically lives peacefully with his family in Finland, a country where the rule of law prevails, but he is encouraging the reign of anarchy here and inciting some of our young people to their self-destruction.

“For him this is also a business, he pretends to fight for the interests of the Igbo, but he knows nothing about the Igbo and does not have their interests at heart.

“He creates a kind of siege atmosphere and thrives on that to make a living, by extorting and exploiting our people, who may not be aware of it, and telling them that he is fighting for their interests. He is just a common criminal.

“We are talking about a murderer who only thinks about how to inflict terrorism on the people. How else can you claim to love our people, a people who are known for hard work in our DNA and who are sitting somewhere dictating to us when we should and should not go to work?”

Mbah assured the people of Enugu State of their continued protection. According to him, the state could not be intimidated by criminals.

“I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to our people to ignore this threat. We have shown that we are capable of providing security to our people and we will continue to do so with the help of our security services.

“We cannot be intimidated. We cannot submit to this siege atmosphere that he wants to create in the southeast. We cherish our hard work as a people. So, you cannot love a people and everything you do is at the expense of their existence, just to gain followers and get cheap publicity.

“I also appeal to the youth not to fall for such cheap antics because it is against our belief system. It is against our values ​​and it is against our work ethic,” he said.

Mbah urged the House of Representatives to take up the challenge of ensuring that Ekpa is repatriated to Nigeria to answer for his acts of murder and terror in the South East region.

“It is astonishing that the Finnish government allows this man to reside peacefully in their country and then commits terrorism in Nigeria.

“And I think this is something that your committee needs to look at and see how this man can be repatriated and then brought to justice.

“Many people have died because of his statements and his actions and he continues on that path. So this is a tragedy that we as a country must all work to end. He does not represent the interests of the Igbo,” Mbah said.

He assured the House committee that his administration was prepared to assist in ensuring the speedy completion of the DSS Training Institute, stressing that security is too important to be left entirely to one level of government.

Speaking earlier, the Chairman of the House Committee on National Security and Intelligence, Hon. Ahmed Satomi, described Governor Mbah as a worthy example to other states in the areas of security and good governance.

He cited Mbah’s great strides in security and other sectors and called on the governor to assist him in the speedy realisation of the DSS Institute so that his ambitious vision for the state can become a reality.