Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), yesterday, criticised a viral video in which the self styled Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa, purported placed a ban on vehicle plates bearing Nigerian numbers “from operating in Biafra land.”  COSEYL said that the video was another plot to heighten the tension and insecurity in the region.

In the video, he threatened that his Biafra security forces would deal with anyone found to have violated the order.

But the group, in a statement by its President, Goodluck Ibem, said that Ekpa’s order amounts to asking people to resign from their government jobs, go home and stay hungry with their families.

He said: “Nobody can drive his car on the road without a number plate on it. The statement by Ekpa means no more movement, no more business for drivers, no more transportation of goods and services. This literally means everywhere should be at a standstill.

“It is unfortunate that someone will sit somewhere in Finland and be giving directives that will inflict pain and hunger on the same people he claims to be fighting for.

“How is the government plate number the problem of an average Igbo man?
“About 98 per cent of cars with government plate numbers in the South East are owned and driven by Igbo. This directive amount to declaring war on Ndigbo by Ekpa.”

Ibem stressed that the problem of Ndigbo is not the government plate numbers, but the release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) from the custody of the Department of the State Services (DSS), as ordered by the Court of Appeal, so that peace can be restored in the South East.

He said that the current insecurity in the region is already causing serious economic hardship for the people, advising that nothing should be done to escalate the situation.