The Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo has disclosed that the self-acclaimed Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa was the brain behind kidnapping for ransom in most part of the East.
Ekpa was arrested in Finland along with four others for alleged terror-related activities, including incitement to violence and terrorism financing in Nigeria.
Speaking in Awka, the governor disclosed that before he became governor, eight local government areas in the state were being controlled by gunmen.
Soludo recalled that: “Kidnapping is not new, my father had been kidnapped as far back as 2009. GU Okeke, Pokobros and many others have fallen victim too.
“They killed policemen and collected guns, attacked and burnt down police stations and went into the bush to label themselves liberators.
“We recovered the eight local government areas that were under siege. These gangs claim to be Biafra freedom fighters. IPOB has dissociated themselves from it, but one Simon Ekpa has continued kidnapping for ransom.
“With a culture that celebrates wealth without craft, even the kidnappers amongst us are now celebrated. Idolatry which these criminals have converted to have become the fastest growing religion in the South-East. Nothing is sacred to them anymore.”
