Police arrest suspected IPOB members who allegedly killed five officers, couple in Imo

Enter the police Imo StateIn southeastern Nigeria, he said nine suspected members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have been arrested illegally, and five officers and a couple were allegedly killed in the state.

The state police spokesman, Henry Okoye disclosed this on Sunday.

PREMIUM TIMES reports how the gunmen, on April 21, killed the officers in a restaurant in UlakwoHe also killed a community and couple in Ngor Okpala Local Government Area of ​​the state.

How were they arrested?

Mr. Okoye, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, said police operatives, led by Superintendent of Police Odeyeyiwa Oladimeji, arrested one of the suspects, Mathew Chukwuma, 48, at his hideout in Umuahia on April 24 at about 5:30 p.m. The capital of Abia State.

The police spokesman said Mr. Chukwuma, an indigene of Mpam in Ahaizu Mbaise Council Area of ​​Imo State, responded to an order by the state Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Barde, to trace the killers. officers and couple.

He said Mr. Chukwuma, the suspect, confessed to being the sector commander of the union of IPOB and its militant wing, Eastern Security Network (ESN), in Mbaise Community of the state and subsequently assisted the operatives in arresting three members of his union. their criminal hideout, while others fled.

Mr. Okoye gave the names of three other arrested suspects as Ikechukwu Ojoko, 53, Charles Chilaka, 44, and Anthony Iwu, 50, all men and indigenes of Umuokiria Community in Ahaizu Mbaise Local Government Area of ​​the state.

“During investigations, all the suspects confessed that they were members of the dreaded syndicate IPOB/ESN terrorizing the good people of Imo State and were involved in the killing of five policemen and two civilians in Ngor Okpala (Council Area),” he said.

A sawn-off AK-47 rifle, 190 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition, two AK-47 magazines, two double-barreled pistols and a locally produced beretta pistol were recovered from the suspects during the operation. according to the police.

The police spokesman said the arrested suspects “provided crucial information that helped” the operatives to arrest four other suspected IPOB members at their second hideout on April 27 at about 12.40am in Itu, a community in Ezinitte Mbaise Local Government Area of ​​the state. .

“On sighting the operatives, the notorious criminal syndicate engaged in a fierce gun duel but was overpowered by the sheer firepower of the battle-ready tactical team, which forced them to scramble and arrest four other suspects,” Mr. Okoye said. .

He gave the names of Damian Ibe, 50, Simon Iwuala, 31, Nwabueze Ahiwe, 47, and Paul Obali, 70, all males and indigenes of the state.

He added that Mr. Ovali, one of the arrested suspects, is the high priest of the syndicate and their second hideout also served as their sanctuary.

One AK-47 rifle, three pump guns, two single barrel guns locally, one local pistol, one cut to size gun, 50 7.66mm cartridges, 38 live cartridges, two AK-47 magazines. and items recovered from the suspects during the operation included a walkie-talkie, police said.

These include: two locally manufactured explosives, an iPhone, an H-mobile, three cow horns painted with the Biafran Insignia, two Biafran Jewish hats and a Jewish flag, large amounts of weed suspected to be cannabis sativa and other fetish objects.

“Furious investigative efforts are on top to arrest other members of the syndicate at large and face the wrath of the law,” a police spokesman said.

He said the arrested suspects were on the wanted list of the state police “for their nefarious activities”, and some members of the syndicate escaped with multiple gunshots.

The number of suspects arrested was eight, the statement said, but the police spokesperson when contacted by PREMIUM TIMES on Monday insisted that a total of nine were arrested, not eight.

The Commissioner of Police in Imo State, Mr Barde, commended the operatives for a “job well done”, stressing that the police are a “collective business”, Mr Okoye said.

Bard appealed to the residents of the state to assist the police and other security agencies in the fight against crime and to report to the police “any suspicious activity or persons” who have or deal with firearms.

The Nigerian government has accused IPOB, which leads the Biafra independence agitation, of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the southeast. But the group has repeatedly denied having participated in the attacks.