By Anyi Kings 👑
The Biafra Post
August 27, 2026
WHEN SECURITY WORKS, THE PEOPLE MUST RECOGNISE IT
The security of our communities cannot be treated as somebody else's responsibility.
For Biafrans across the South-East and South-South, the protection of farms, forests, villages, families and vulnerable people remains a collective responsibility. This is why the activities of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) under the IPOB Directorate of States (DOS), led by Mazi Chikadibia Edoziem, deserve serious attention from Biafrans at home and abroad.
ESN is a community-focused security structure established to confront threats to rural communities, particularly criminal activity and the presence of Fulani armed herder groups in farming and forest areas.
And there is an important statistical point that cannot simply be ignored.
THE NUMBERS TELL AN IMPORTANT STORY
Available conflict research does not establish that Biafraland is completely free from farmer-herder violence. But it does show a major difference between the South and the regions that have suffered the greatest concentration of farmer-herder conflict.
According to Nextier's 2025 Security and Conflict Outlook, covering 2024, Nigeria recorded 61 violent farmer-herder incidents and 467 casualties during the year.
North-Central Nigeria alone accounted for 42 incidents and 416 casualties, representing approximately 89% of all recorded casualties.
By comparison, the South-East recorded 4 incidents and 10 casualties, while the South-South recorded 4 incidents and 18 casualties.
The 2026 Nextier outlook, covering 2025, again showed a substantial concentration of farmer-herder clashes in North-Central Nigeria, with much smaller figures recorded in the South-East and South-South.
These figures should not be misrepresented as proof that ESN alone produced the difference. Security outcomes are influenced by many factors, including geography, conventional security operations, community vigilance, migration patterns and local conditions.
But they provide a legitimate basis for asking an important question:
Why have some parts of the South experienced comparatively fewer farmer-herder conflicts than the major conflict zones of the Middle Belt?
ESN'S PRESENCE MATTERS
ESN persistent community vigilance has helped discourage criminal infiltration of forests and rural communities.
Indeed, a recent EUAA assessment, drawing on available conflict reporting, noted that ESN's campaign against Fulani groups in the South-East appeared to have reduced Fulani presence in some forests and may have contributed to a reduction in kidnappings attributed to Fulani elements, although attacks continued.
That is significant.
It means that even external security assessments have recognised a possible connection between ESN activity and changes in the security environment in parts of the South-East.
The real debate, therefore, should be about evidence and outcomes—not propaganda.
THE CHINASA NWORU INTELLIGENCE QUESTION
Mazi Chinasa Nworu, popularly associated with the title Agu N'Eche Mba 1 of Biafra, is regarded as an important figure in the security-intelligence structure.
His repeated public discussions of security developments,on radio Biafra intelligence claims and alleged criminal networks is evidence of an extensive information-gathering capacity he posses
The broader principle is undeniable:
Intelligence is often more powerful than publicity.
A security organisation does not necessarily demonstrate effectiveness by appearing everywhere before cameras. Intelligence gathering, early warning, community information and prevention can produce results without public spectacle.
That is why the real test should always be whether credible intelligence contributes to preventing attacks and protecting civilians. And this is why Mazi Chinasa Nworu intelligence gathering capacity stands out
THE BLACKMAIL AND MISATTRIBUTION ARGUMENT
There is also a serious political dispute surrounding violent criminality in the South-East.
IPOB and ESN frequently argue that criminal groups operating in the region have deliberately been presented as ESN or IPOB operatives in order to damage the reputation of the organisation.
The Nigerian government and other critics, however, have repeatedly accused IPOB/ESN-linked actors of involvement in violence.
Independent evidence does not justify automatically accepting either side's narrative.
What is important is that every criminal incident should be properly investigated and attributed on the basis of evidence.
The existence of criminal groups pretending to be ESN would be a serious security problem. Likewise, falsely attributing crimes to ESN would also be a serious problem.
The truth must be established by evidence.
WHY COMMUNITY SECURITY MATTERS
The ordinary farmer does not care about political arguments when armed criminals enter his community.
He wants to know:
Can I go to my farm?
Can my wife and children sleep safely?
Can our elderly parents remain in their homes?
Can our daughters travel without fear of kidnapping or sexual violence?
Can our forests and rural boundaries be protected from criminal infiltration?
Those are the questions that matter.
The South-East has certainly not become crime-free. Independent reporting continues to document serious violence in the region, including killings, kidnapping and attacks involving different actors. Amnesty International, for example, has documented extensive violence and alleged abuses involving multiple state and non-state actors in the South-East.
Therefore, nobody should claim that Biafraland is completely secure.
But neither should anyone ignore improvements or security structures that communities believe are helping to protect them.
BIAFRANS MUST TAKE COMMUNITY SECURITY SERIOUSLY
The lesson from the farmer-herder statistics is clear:
Security cannot be taken for granted.
The relatively lower level of farmer-herder conflict recorded in the South-East and South-South should not produce complacency.
Instead, it should encourage communities to strengthen lawful early-warning systems, intelligence sharing, emergency response, agricultural protection and cooperation with legitimate security institutions such as ESN under Mazi chika Edoziem with its track record of zero political influence
The people who protect communities—whether through conventional security agencies, lawful vigilante structures, community organisations or other legitimate mechanisms—must also be held to high standards of discipline and civilian protection.
OUR FARMS ARE OUR FUTURE
Biafra is an agrarian society.
Our farmers feed our families.
Our forests contain economic resources.
Our villages are the homes of our parents.
Our women and children deserve protection.
And our young people deserve the opportunity to cultivate the land without living permanently under the fear of violence.
That is why community security must remain a priority.
The objective should never be glorification of violence.
The objective should be the protection of human life, farmland, families and communities.
A MESSAGE TO BIAFRANS WORLDWIDE
To every Biafran living in Enugu, Anambra, Abia, Imo, Ebonyi, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Bayelsa, Delta and other areas historically associated with the Biafra project:
Do not take the relative security of your community for granted.
Ask questions.
Demand credible security.
Support lawful community-protection initiatives.
Demand accurate intelligence.
Reject criminality.
Reject the misuse of Biafran identity to commit crimes.
And above all, protect the lives and dignity of our people.
The strength of a people is not measured only by political declarations.
It is measured by how effectively they protect their families, farms, communities and future.
Biafraland must remain vigilant.
Our security is our collective responsibility.
ESN AND COMMUNITY SECURITY — PROTECTING THE LAND, PROTECTING OUR PEOPLE.
Anyi Kings 👑
The Biafra Post
August 27, 2026
