Timeframe: December 2020 – 2022
Location: Orlu forests, Enugu, Abuja
Key Actors: Eastern Security Network (ESN), Nigerian
Army 34 Artillery Brigade, Commander Ikonso, community vigilantes
Epigraph:
“We formed the Eastern Security Network to defend our forests from
murderous herdsmen.”
— Nnamdi Kanu, Radio Biafra broadcast, 12 December 2020 [1].
The Camera Lens
Drone footage from January 2021 shows masked men patrolling the Orlu forest with pump-action shotguns. They call themselves the Eastern Security Network. To villagers frightened by herder attacks, ESN is a protective shield. To Abuja, it is an illegal militia challenging the state’s monopoly on force.
Al Jazeera reported that Kanu announced ESN in December 2020, describing it as a forest guard to repel heavily armed herders [1]. Communities donated food and logistics, viewing ESN as a grassroots response to security vacuum.
In April 2021, Nigerian forces stormed an ESN camp in Awomama, killing Commander Ikonso and several fighters [2]. The raid triggered retaliatory attacks on police stations and birthed the “Unknown Gunmen” wave. Security analysts warn that without dialogue, what began as community defense risks mutating into full insurgency.
ESN sits at the fault line between legitimate self-defense and insurgency. The State’s failure to provide security birthed it; heavy-handed raids entrenched it. Resolving the puzzle requires addressing the grievances that armed the forest guards in the first place.