An international development think-tank has identified a lack of proper institutionalization and security training for the spate of killings and human rights abuses linked to the Ebubeagu Security Network in the South East.
The Nextier SPD in its latest report signed by its research fellows, Ben Nwosu, Ph.D and Ndu Nwokolo, Ph.D., said the failure to nurture the outfit to achieve its potential was responsible for its resentment by the citizens.
“Besides, essential security training on human rights, code of conduct and responsible use of firearms was not consciously provided,” they said.
The report x-rayed the security challenges across the country which necessitated the common agitation for state police, with the North troubled mostly by terror, banditry and farmer-herder crisis and the South by kidnapping, secessionist agitations, armed robbery and farmer-herder conflicts.
The study found that while Amotekun, which was set up in the South West on January 9, 2020, has a clear command structure, and properly defined operational limits based on their establishment laws, the Ebubeagu, which was established in the South East on April 12, 2021, very late after the outlawed IPOB had set up the Eastern Security Network (ESN), has no clear structure and have been linked with reports of rights abuses, torture and extra-judicial killings.
“In terms of operational records in Imo and Ebonyi States, where Ebubeagu is operational, the reports about their conduct raise fears of abusive use of sub-national security outfits, which is part of the reasons for the rejection of state police in Nigeria,” the study reads.
The study recommended among others, Ebubeagu’s institutionalization by the statutory establishment, and integration of its command and control with active citizen involvement.
