Ebonyi govt rejects court judgement on Ebubeagu disbandment

The Ebonyi State Government has described as a miscarriage of justice the Federal High Court judgement that disbanded the Ebubeagu Security Outfit, saying it was “dead on arrival”.

The Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki on Tuesday declared null and void the activities of Ebubeagu in the state and ordered the Department of States Services and the Nigerian Police to retrieve all the weapons in their possession.

But reacting to the judgement during a joint press conference, the Commissioner for Information, Uchenna Orji, and the Special Security Consultant to the State Government, Hon. Stanley Okoro-Emegha, said there was no cause for alarm over the judgement.

According to the commissioner, the judgement is a miscarriage of justice, abuse of court processes and misapplication of the law.

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He said, “Ebubeagu has legal backing to its existence and operations not only in Ebonyi but the entire South-East. We will not hesitate to go to the supreme court to know who is right in this circumstance.

Also speaking, Okoro-Emegha noted the state government had begun moves to appeal the judgement.

Okoro-Emegha expressed optimism that the appellate court will reverse the verdict in due course because the outfit had a firm legal backing to its existence.

He urged politicians to stop playing with the security of society, irrespective of the party they belonged to.

“Ebubeagu is perfectly designed by law to complement the effort of the security agencies in tackling insecurity.

“We will not listen to that Federal High Court ruling of Tuesday because we have a similar ruling previously, which we won in 2022. Of course, the lives of citizens are utmost importance to us.

“We will appeal the judgement and Ebubeagu will continue to function the way they have been functioning. So, we will not adhere to that judgement.”

He added, “Election is by voter’s card and by talking to your supporters. Nothing will make Ebubeagu to jitter because there is a law backing its establishment.

“We are not perturbed. We are not bothered. We understand what is happening and we dealing with it head-on. We will not obey that judgement and it’s not if us, because the government was the first to obtain a judgement to that effect.”