A dusk-to-dawn raid of IPOB/ESN camp in a forest at Agu-Ibeje in Enugu-Ezike community of Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State led to a gun duel between police operatives and the proscribed group members, with one of them killed in the crossfire while several others escaped with varying degrees of gunshot injuries.
During the operation, Thenewsbearer learnt that the body of a police officer, Okpanachi Johnson, who was serving in Igbo-Eze North Division of the Command was discovered and exhumed from a shallow grave in the camp.
The police officer had been missing since Saturday, July 30, with all effort made to trace his whereabouts proving abortive.
In the raid carried out between August 11 and 12, 2022, the operatives were drawn from Tactical Squads and Operation Restore Peace.
Confirming this in a statement on Tuesday, August 26, the police spokesman in the state, DSP Daniel Ndukwe said that the raid was in pursuance of the crime fighting strategies devised by the state Commissioner of Police, Abubakar Lawal, to rid the state of criminals and their activities.
The PPRO said that the hoodlums, on sighting the operatives during the raid, engaged them in a gun duel before they were dislodged by superior firepower of the police.
Recovered from their hideout were 12 firearms, including one AR-K2 Assault, six Pump Action guns, a locally-made Beretta-like pistol and five locally-fabricated double-barreled guns, 98 live cartridges, two machetes, a digger, a battle axe, a hacksaw; five vehicles, consisting three Toyota Sienna minivans, a Honda Pilot SUV and a Toyota Hiace (Hummer) bus loaded with assorted Ankara fabrics, all reported to have been snatched from their owners at different times within the area by the hoodlums.
Other recovered items were 20 different brands of motorcycles with their number plates removed, a police bullet-proof vest, a pair of police camouflage uniform, a pair of military camouflage uniform with a cap and military singlet, among several others.
In a related development, on Monday, August 8, at about 9:15am, the police operatives recovered two AK-47 rifles with four magazines, all loaded with a total of 64 rounds of 7.62mm calibre of live ammunition (which are currently in the custody of 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Enugu), a locally-made cut-to-size gun, a Dane gun, Lexus RX 330 and RX 300 SUVs, a Honda Pilot SUV, 25 machetes, two axes and fetish items suspected to be charms, among others.
DSP Ndukwe stated further that the recovery was sequel to the operatives’ swift response to a distress call alleging that IPOB/ESN hoodlums invaded and set ablaze the house of a local vigilante at Oduma community in Aninri Local Government Area.
The police commissioner, who commended the operatives for the successful execution of the operations without any casualty recorded by the command, charged them to remain focused on actualizing the overall goal of ridding the state of unrepentant criminal elements.
He further called on residents of the state to remain law-abiding, vigilant and support the command with credible information and/or intelligence it requires to combat criminals and their activities.
