…As group key members are on the run
Scores of members of the outlawed Indigenous Peoples Of Biafra,IPOB have been reported arrested in Ogbe Ahiara and Akpodim Communities, while its key leaders who escaped have been declared wanted by the Nigerian security operatives made up of the Police,DSS and Army , generally known as Joint Task Force,JTF.
Our correspondent reported that following the lingering security challenges being experienced in the Mbaise communities of Imo state, the JTF had to mount surveillance in the areas aimed at frustrating and neutralizing the alleged activities of the known members of the IPOB in the axis.
According to him, an eye witness who pledged anonymity disclosed that the security operatives, following a tip off swooped the sleeping communities of Ogbe Ahiara and Akpodim in Mbaise Local Government Area on July 21,2023 with a clear agenda, as it was reported, to arrest many IPOB members said to be operating in the area with ease.
In the words of another anonymous eye witness in the area,” the activities of the IPOB members are quite prevalent in these areas and the Nigerian government,it seems is determined to keep the country united and secured by smoking them out of the entire South- East”
Our correspondent also gathered that on the fateful day,July 21, the JTF was reported to had stormed the area at the wee hours of the night, while natives were asleep ,combing the entire communities, shooting sporadically and allegedly setting houses of suspected members of IPOB ablaze.
The eye witness account confirmed that some members of the agitation group whose homes were set on fire include; one Isaac Onuoha,Kennedy Iheoma, Adolphus Nnorom,Ndubuisi Chikere and Emeka Anyanwu who are known die-hard members of the group.
It was further gathered that these IPOB leaders have been declared wanted ; dead or alive by Nigerian government security forces,JTF.
Our correspondent informed that the brutal attack of the JTF on the Mbaise communities which rendered many families homeless with many of the people missing without trace as at Press time,did not go down well with so many leaders of Mbaise LGAs.
It was equally revealed that the parents of two of the above key IPOB members lost their lives in the inferno.
Emeka Anyanwu and Adolphus Nnorom each reportedly lost their aged fathers in the gruesome and inhuman attack, while properties worth millions of Naira were lost.
An eye witness account disclosed that Iheoma who was in-charge of IPOB in Ogbe community and usually hosted the group’s meetings was arrested few days before JTF hit the area. Many fear he must have been killed as well, as his whereabouts is not yet known.
As at Press time the whereabouts of the other IPOB leaders including Nnorom,Chikere are also not known.
Many natives and stakeholders in Mbaise including traditional rulers in Ogbe, Ahiara and Akpodim and Imo state in general have flayed the approach of the Nigerian security operatives against IPOB which they opined has the right to agitate for self actualization and emancipation of their people as result of marginalization in Nigeria since after the civil war.
It will be recalled that the IPOB members are mainly from the South East and South South parts of the Nigeria nation who are driven by the sore interest towards emancipation of their people from alleged gross marginalization in politics and beyond. Since after the Nigerian Civil war the people of the Southern part of Nigeria have always wished to have the Biafra nation as they are said not to be integrated in today’s governance of Nigeria.
Confirming the story of the alleged attack by JTF in Mbaise LGA the Police Public Relations Officer,PPRO, SP Orlando Ikeokwu said the Imo state Police command is investigating the allegation of arson against the security operatives, with a promise to make its findings public.
NIGERIA NEWSPOINT
