The Department of State Security Service (DSS) has told the Abuja division of the Federal High Court that the paramilitary wing of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the Eastern Security Network (ESN), is an illegal organization without the backing of the law.
IPOB, a proscribed pro- Biafra separatist movement had early in December 2020, launched the ESN as a reaction to the perception of targeted killings of Igbos by bandits and herdsmen from the northern region.
However, speaking under re- examination in the ongoing trial of the detained leader of IPOB Nnamdi Kanu, a prosecution witness and a personnel of the DSS, simply identified as BBB, told the court that the Eastern Security Network is an illegal organization because it was not established by any existing law.
Specifically, the witness was responding to a question by the prosecution counsel, Chief Adegboyega Awolowo SAN, to differentiate between the ESN and Amotekun in the South Western region of the country.
The witness told the court that while the ESN was formed without any backing of the law, the Amotekun security outfit on the other hand has legal backing from the respective Houses of Assembly of the affected States.
Amotekun, the South-Western region security network, he said was set up in all the six States of the South- Western regions to complement the effort of security agencies in curbing insecurity, especially kidnapping, armed robbery as well as herdsmen and farmers contentions in the region.
Meanwhile, during the cross-examination of the witness by the Defence Counsel, Paul Erokoro SAN, the court admitted in evidence, a certified true copy (CTC), of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution of victims of EndSARs and other Related Abuses and related matters.
The report which was tendered from the Bar by the defence team was admitted and marked as exhibit PWUO.
The judge stated that having granted an accelerated trial of the case, it would be against the interest of justice to delay the trial while the defendant languish in detention.