By Olayinka Ajayi

Chijioke Udeogu, a former member of the Eastern Security Network, has insisted that the reason they were declared terrorist was because they decided to defend themselves by joining the Eastern Security Network,ESN,.

Narrating his ordeal to Vanguard in an interview, Udeogu said, “To be factual, during April 5, 2021, I was one of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and the Indigenous People of Biafra IPoB members that escaped at the Owerri Custodial Centre attack that resulted in a mass jail break where 1,844 inmates escaped.

“It started when the armed Fulani bandits and herdsmen started attacking our village at Orlu in Imo State, we confronted them and killed some before the federal government declared us and our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, as terrorists. It was from that arrest that I escaped from the prison.

“We were accused of being part of the separatist Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB/ESN) using explosives and advanced weapons to breach the facility in Imo State.”