Imo Police Arrest IPOB Members, Recover IED, Rifles, Biafra Currency

The Imo State Police Command on Friday announced the arrest of 15 suspected members of Eastern Security Network (ESN), the armed wing of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

The spokesperson for the police command, ASP Henry Okoye, said in a statement in Owerri that items seized from them included an Improvised Explosive Device, rifles, various denominations of Biafra currency and Point of Sale machine.

The News Agency of Nigeria quoted Okoye as saying that the arrest followed confessions by some members of the group earlier arrested by the command’s anti-kidnapping squad.

He said that in the follow-up operation, the squad led by CSP Oladimeji Odeyeyiwa, arrested the 15 suspects at their hideouts in Obiangwu and Logara Forests in Ngor-Okpala Local Government Area of the state.

According to him, an AK-47 rifle loaded with 21 rounds of live ammunition, charms, one cut-to-size double-barrelled shotgun, four locally made shotguns, three rounds of live ammunition and illicit drugs and substances were recovered from the suspects.

He added, “One militia camouflage T-Shirt, one Improvised Explosive Device, one guinea fowl with fetish items on it, one PoS machine used in extorting money from their victims and various denominations of Biafra currency were equally recovered.

“The suspects will be arraigned in court upon completion of a comprehensive investigation.”

Okoye reiterated the pledge of the Commissioner of Police, Mr Aboki Danjuma, to ensure adequate security during the Yuletide as well as intensify the clampdown on subversive and unrepentant criminals across the state.

Okoye urged members of the public to support the police with timely and actionable information to stem criminalities across the state.