Troops of Joint Task Force South East Operation UDO KA II have cleared four notorious camps of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed affiliates the Eastern Security Network (ESN) in Ihube, Aku and Umulolo in Okigwe Local Government Area of Imo State.
In a statement on Monday, October 2, Spokesman of the Joint Task Force, Lt.-Col. Jonah Unuakhalu said the operations took place on Sunday, October 1.
He said, “During the clearance operation, troops encountered many Improvised Explosive Device (IEDs) enroute the camps.
“However, due to superior firepower, the irredentist fled into neighbouring forests with gunshot wounds.
“It was discovered that the camps were being used to perpetuate atrocities such as cannibalism, occultic practices and ritual killings to instil fears into the law abiding citizens.”
The JTF spokesman added that these were evident from many fresh and old corpses discovered while clearing the entire camps.
He disclosed that the houses of two spiritual leaders/herbalists (Dibias), who took to their heels, were destroyed.
“Furthermore, the shrine of the wanted terrorist Amobi Chinoso Okafor AKA Temple where human sacrifices are being made was destroyed.
“The Joint Task Force neutralised 2 IPOB/ESN members and four of the criminals were arrested.
“Items recovered from the camps include different denomination of the Biafra currencies, one new power bike, four motorcycles, solar panels.
“Others are POP, cements and petroleum tanker suspected to have been hijacked from hard working Igbo owners trying to make a living,” Lt.-Col. Unuakhalu said.
He assured that Operation UDO KA II would continue combating crime and criminality in accordance with the extant rules and regulations guiding its operations.
The JTF spokesman stressed that all law abiding and good citizens of the South-East region are enjoined to act against these devilish terrorists by providing timely, credible and reliable information that would lead to ending the menace of insecurity occasioned by activities of the terrorist group in the region.