THE Nigerian Army officers participating in Operation UDO KA raided an Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) camp in Igboro Forest in Abia State on Saturday, June 8.
The Nigerian Army said in a statement on X on Sunday, June 9, that the purpose of the raid was to apprehend those responsible for the deaths of five soldiers at Obikabia Crossroads in Aba, a major commercial city in the state, in the previous week.
Part of the statement reads:”In order to apprehend the perpetrators of the attack on our troops at Aba last week as well as to recover arms and ammunition from the Indigenous 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 Army said that six IPOB members were killed as the soldiers engaged in a shootout to subdue the gang during the operation.
“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 statement added.
The statement noted that the soldiers also found three locally made rocket-propelled grenade launchers, two locally made tripod-equipped artillery guns, and bombs.
Additionally, they recovered dane guns, Biafran flags, among others.
The Army urged Abia residents to keep feeding law enforcement agencies reliable and timely information in order to help eradicate criminal activity in the state and the South-East.
The ICIR reported that the state Governor Alex Otti raised the bounty on the soldiers’ killers from N25 million to N30 million.
Fatimah Quadri is a Journalist and a Fact-checker at The ICIR. She has written news articles, fact-checks, explainers, and media literacy in an effort to combat information disorder.
She can be reached at sunmibola_q on X or fquadri@icirnigeria.org