…As Police raid IPOB/ESN hideout in Enugu, kill 2
- Troops of 34 Artillery Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Obinze, Owerri, said they had destroyed the den of notorious terrorists led by one Monday Ogu, popularly called B44.
The troops also exhumed dead bodies believed to be the terrorists’ victims, buried in shallow graves near the den in Ezioha community, Mbaitoli council area of Imo State.
Addressing journalists shortly after the operation on Saturday, the Brigade Commander, Brig Gen Usman Lawal, said the exercise was carried out by his gallant officers following intelligence reports.
He said the terrorists’ camp, strategically located on the bank of the Njaba River, overlapped three council areas of Imo, namely Njaba, Oru East and Mbaitoli, where the criminals carried out attacks.
He listed the attacks to include kidnapping for ransom, robbery of kidnapping victims’ valuables, burning of their vehicles, as well as killing of the victims, most of whom were buried in shallow graves.
The commander added that the terrorists also vandalise vehicles belonging to their victims and sell off the vehicles’ parts while burning them beyond recognition.
He called on residents of the state to furnish security agencies with useful information that would lead to the location and decimation of terrorists and other criminal elements in their domain.
He said: “We aim to clear camps of criminal, irredentist elements and restore peace to the communities so that the people can return to their communities and resume normal life.
“Following the clearance of the terrorists’ hideout by our gallant troops, we have exhumed the dead bodies of the victims for a thorough forensic assessment so that, where possible, we can trace them to their families and hand them over for a befitting burial.
Meantime, the Police Command in Enugu State said it has raided an Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its Eastern Security Network (ESN) criminal hideouts in Akwuke axis of Enugu metropolis.
The police operatives said they met with resistance from the renegades, who opened fire upon sighting them, but they were subdued by the superior firepower of the police, leading to the neutralisation of two of the renegades.
The command’s spokesperson, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, said in a statement, yesterday, that the Police conducted the raid on Saturday at about 2:30 a.m. Ndukwe said other members of the group escaped with various gunshot wounds.
He said one AK-47 rifle, one Sub-Machine Gun (SMG), one stainless Pump-Action Gun (PAG), 27 live and 23 expended rounds of 7.62 mm calibre ammunition were recovered after the raid and gun battle.
According to him, police also recovered five live cartridges and a small blue-coloured Gideon New Testament Bible probably used to conceal objects suspected to be charms.
He said: “In pursuance of the proactive/crime prevention strategies devised by the state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr Kanayo Uzuegbu, police operatives of Anti-Cultism Tactical Squad carried out an intelligence-guided raid of a suspected IPOB/ESN hideout in Akwuke community in Enugu metropolis.
“A preliminary investigation reveals that the breech number of the recovered AK-47 was wiped off.
“The criminal elements are responsible for several attacks and carting away of police officers’ rifles, as the rifle’s magazine bore the Nigeria Police Force colour. Further discreet investigations are ongoing.”
