Crime
Soldiers killing: Army raids IPOB camp in Abia, kills six
Troops of the Nigerian Army on Operation UDO KA conducted a raid on an Indigenous People of Biafra camp located in Igboro Forest in Abia State on Saturday.
According to a statement posted on X.com by the NA on Sunday, the raid was conducted in order to arrest the killers of five soldiers at Obikabia junction in Aba last week.
The statement read, “In order to apprehend the perpetrators of the attack on own troops (three out of those killed are from the SE) at Aba last week as well as to recover arms and ammunition from the Indigeneous People of Biafra and its affiliate Eastern Security Network terrorist group, troops of Operation UDO KA conducted another successful clearance/raid operations to the IPOB/ESN Camp in Igboro Forest in Arochukwu LGA of Abia State yesterday.”
The statement disclosed that during the operation, the troops subdued the IPOB group in a firefight, killing six members of the group.
It added, “During the intelligence-led operation, troops encountered Improvised Explosive Devices along the axis of advance, and one soldier sustained a minor injury from the fragment.
“The terrorists’ feeble firefight was adequately subdued with superior firepower, which led to the neutralisation of six members of the criminal terrorist group while others escaped into adjoining bushes with varying degrees of gunshot wounds as blood stains were seen along their escape routes.”
The soldiers were also reported to have recovered weapons, including three locally fabricated rocket-propelled grenade launchers, two locally fabricated artillery guns with tripod and bombs.
Additionally, recovered Dane guns, Biafran flags, and vehicles were reported to have been burnt and the camp itself was destroyed.
In the statement, the Joint Task Force Operation UDO KA urged Abia residents to continue providing security forces with credible and timely information to aid in eliminating criminals in the state and wider southeastern region.
PUNCH Online reports that the Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, increased the N25 million bounty placed on the killers of the soldiers in Aba to N30 million.
Otti added that the state government had also started working with the security agencies to ensure that such incidents do not happen again in the state.
The Lagos Police Command has successfully rescued the three Fouani brothers, Abbas, Youssef, and Amtal, who were kidnapped on June 14 while returning from their factory by boat.
The brothers, who are associated with Fouani Nigeria Ltd, a major electronics company, were released late Monday night in Orugbo Iddo, along with their boat driver and assistant.
According to police spokesperson Benjamin Hundeyin, the successful rescue was made possible by the combined efforts of the Lagos Marine Police and the Nigerian Navy.
“They were rescued late last night in Orugbo Iddo. Our marine police, with the support of the Nigerian Navy, brought them to shore,” Hundeyin stated. “Thereafter, our tactical team in the area took them home on Banana Island in the early hours of today. Five of them were rescued: three Lebanese, the boat captain, and his assistant.”
The Police Command in Enugu State has arrested three suspected criminals and recovered firearms, ammunition and 15 motor batteries within Enugu metropolis.
The command’s Spokesman, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, made the disclosure in a statement on Monday in Enugu.
Ndukwe said that police operatives serving in Emene Division, in concert with law-abiding citizens, recovered a Beretta pistol with 36 rounds of 0.9mm calibre ammunition on June 16, around 7 p.m.
Ndukwe said that the firearms and ammunition were recovered from a small bush where they had been abandoned around Airport Corner, by Old Abakaliki Road, Emene in Enugu.
“The exhibits were suspected to have been abandoned by criminal elements on the hot trail of the police operatives for allegations of armed robberies,” he said.
The spokesman said that in another operation, three suspects were arrested by police operatives serving in the Awkunanaw Division in Enugu on June 7, around 2 p.m.
He said that their arrest followed the conduct of a covert operation by the operatives upon the receipt of complaints about the theft of several motor vehicle batteries at a construction site in Awkunanaw axis of Enugu.
Ndukwe said that the suspects, who were initially arrested during the act, had confessed, upon interrogation, to having stolen many batteries and sold them to another suspect who was later arrested.
“15 batteries, including those of articulated and other motor vehicles and tricycles, were recovered from them,” he said.
Ndukwe said that the suspects would be arraigned and prosecuted upon conclusion of investigations.
The Police Command in Anambra says it has arrested 48-year-old Felix Owaya, in possession of 375 live cartridges.
SP Tochukwu Ikenga, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen in Onitsha on Monday.
Ikenga stated that the suspect hailed from Ika South Local Government Area of Delta.
He also stated that the police operatives attached to Fegge Division made the arrest, while on patrol along Niger Street, Onitsha on Saturday.
He added that during interrogation, the suspect confessed that he was sent by one Mr Charles Ogboma to a yet-to-be-identified man to collect the ammunition.
He explained that investigation on the matter was still ongoing.
According to him, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Nnaghe Itam, commended the operatives for their vigilance and tenacity of purpose.
Itam was quoted to have directed all the personnel in the command to sustain the tempo of crime prevention and detection in service of the people and state.
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