OPINION: ESN May Be Worse than Boko Haram if not crushed as soon as possible

Boko Haram Insurgency may be a child’s play compared to the security upheaval that will be caused by IPOB’s newly established armed wing, the Eastern Security Network if not crushed as soon as possible.

The situation in Nigeria’s south-east is uncomfortably similar to that which preceded the so-called Maiduguri uprising and which ultimately birthed Africa’s deadliest Islamist insurgency (Boko Haram).

While a Boko Haram-esque militarisation of Ipob is not a foregone conclusion, a continued state crackdown on the Igbo movement could at the very least swell its support base.

The establishment of a paramilitary wing by IPOB further poses a higher and more sensitive national security issue, part of which is the recent spate of skirmishes in south-eastern Nigeria between the army and the separatist Indigenous People of Biafra group’s newly formed armed wing, the Eastern Security Network.

Thereore the situation in the southeast should be nipped in the bud before it escalates into a full-blown crisis.

Developments in south-eastern Nigeria took a violent turn this week, with clashes between members of IPOB’s newly formed armed wing, the Eastern Security Network, and the Nigerian military.

Reports has it that the Army had bombarded some communities in the area believed to be harbouring personnel of the security arm of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

It was gathered that the strike started on Thursday morning and has worsened the already built-up tension in the areas.

There’s no doubt that the move by IPOB to establish a security arm will be “detrimental to the peace, unity, stability and development” of Nigeria.

This could also lead to a full blown war which may be worst than the long running war against Boko Haram.

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Nigeria’s civil war should have been an opportunity for Nigerians to remember the ills of war and to vow not to let it happen again after the war claimed more than a million lives in just three years.

The establishment of ESN has further deepened Nigeria’s security woes, if not crushed immediately the country might soon be witnessing a crisis that could be worse than that of the insurgents in the North East.

Nigeria, meanwhile, must go back 50 years to draw its own lessons: These types of agitations can lead to war. If the south-easterners don’t want to stay, let them go. Fragmentation is a million times better than the devastation of war.