‘Many killed’ as troops destroy ‘IPOB military HQ’ in Imo 

The Nigerian army says its troops, with sister agencies, have destroyed the headquarters of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) at mother valley, Orsu council area of Imo state. 

Hassan Dada, force commander, joint task force south-east, Operation Udo Ka, spoke on Friday at Eke Ututu, Orsu LGA of Imo.

The commander said the troops cleared and liberated Ihiteukwa, Eke Ututu and Ihittenansa towns in Imo, as well as Orsumoghu and Lilu towns in Ihiala and Ekwusigo LGAs of Anambra state.

He said the headquarters, which served as the last IPOB stronghold, spans Orsu and Ihiala LGAs of Imo and Anambra.

“It is about 5,000 feet below sea level,” Dada said.

He added that the well concealed forest afforded the ptoscribed group a good cover from air surveillance and served as their command and control centre, and military council headquarters.

He said during the raid, which occurred on Thursday, the troops detonated and recovered many improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and various types of obstacles which were cleared.

He further said the troops also came in contact with the IPOB members, subdued and killed many, while others with varying degrees of gunshot wounds fled into surrounding bushes.

“In addition to many weapons, equipment, IEDs and stolen vehicles recovered over the last three weeks, items recovered in the Mother Valley include three G3 rifles, nine automatic pump action rifles, seven double barrel guns, two locally-made pistols, two rocket-propelled grenade bombs, two AK 47 magazine and one G3 magazine,” he said.

“Others were 26 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, 16 rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammunition, 72 pump action cartridges, one chainsaw, one laptop, one CCTV DVR, 26 CCTV cameras, 17 baofeng radios with batteries and 10 without batteries and their chargers.

“Also recovered were six handheld IEDs, 26 android phones, 25 ordinary phones, one inverter, one SIM card registration machine, four POS machines, three motorcycle batteries for igniting IEDs, two trumpets, two Biafra flags, 20 ESN certificates, two diaries containing details of ammunition and food supplies and two pairs of Biafra Liberation Army uniforms.

“The joint troops also destroyed about 50 tents in the valley housing the supreme headquarters, IPOB/ESN command and control center, Buteuzor’s hideout and residence, offices, their logistics base, temples and shrines used for occultic practices among many other items.”

Dada commended Imo and Anambra people for their cooperation with security agencies and urged them to report any strange faces in their communities to the army by dialing the emergency line 193.