Security operatives kill three suspected IPOB members

Security operatives have killed three suspected members of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its militant wing, the Eastern Security Network in Enugu State, South-east Nigeria.

The police spokesperson in the state, Daniel Ndukwe, in a statement on Monday, said the security agencies comprised the police operatives from the state command, personnel of the special forces of the Nigeria Police Force and troops from the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army.

Mr Ndukwe, a deputy superintendent of police, said the hoodlums were killed at about 2:15 a.m. on Monday when a combined security team raided their hideout in Ezioha, Mgbowo Community in Awgu Local Government Area of the state.

The police spokesperson said the operation followed a tip-off that the hoodlums were planning to enforce a sit-at-home order which was declared by a faction of the IPOB.

“Three of the hoodlums, who opened fire on the joint team upon sighting them, were neutralized, while several others escaped with severe degrees of gunshot wounds in the ensuing gunfight,” he said.

---

Three pump-action guns and 10 machetes were among the items recovered from the hoodlums, according to the police.

The police said a manhunt for the fleeing hoodlums was ongoing.

READ ALSO: Disregard IPOB stay-at-home order- Abia govt urges residents

The Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Kanayo Uzuegbu, has commended the joint security operatives for the successful operation, Mr Ndukwe said.

Mr Uzuegbu assured residents of the state that security agencies would ensure their safety while they go about their businesses.

The police commissioner reiterated the commitment of the police and other security agencies to sustain the onslaught against criminals in the state.

He urged the residents to report to the police individuals seen with gunshot injuries around their neighbourhood and also appealed to them to support security agencies with information that will help in crime fighting.

Background

IPOB, in August 2021, introduced a sit-at-home order every Monday across the South-east to pressure the Nigerian government to release Nnamdi Kanu, who is standing trial for alleged terrorism.

The group later suspended the order, in preference for it to be implemented only on days Mr Kanu appears in court.

But despite its suspension, residents of the five South-east states – Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia and Anambra — have been observing the Monday sit-at-home order, mostly out of fear.

IPOB had repeatedly disowned the Monday sit-at-home across the region, saying those who still enforce the order were criminals attempting to blackmail the separatist group.

But a pro-Biafran agitator, Simon Ekpa, who leads Autopilot, a faction of IPOB, has continued to declare the sit-at-home in the region, despite being suspended by the IPOB faction led by Mr Kanu.

Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State, in June, banned the Monday sit-at-home in the state, explaining that the illegal action was killing the “spirit of entrepreneurship, commerce and creativity” of Igbo people in the region.

Following public outcry, Mr Kanu in late July, via a handwritten letter given to Aloy Ejimakor, his special counsel, ordered Mr Ekpa to stop issuing sit-at-home orders in the region.

But the pro-Biafran agitator described the letter as “fake,” and maintained that the illegal action would go on until Mr Kanu speaks to him directly in Finland, a North European country, where he (Ekpa) resides.

IPOB is leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra, which it wants carved out from the South-east and some parts of South-south Nigeria.