From Maurice Okafor, Enugu.
The Enugu state police command yesterday reported it exhumed the corpse of of it’s missing colleague,among other items recovered when a combined team of it’s tactical squad and Operation Restore Peace,raided suspected Indigenous People of Biafra(IPOB/ESN) forest at Agu-Ibeje in Enugu Ezike community,Igbo Eze North local government area of Enugu state.
A press statement which emanated from the office of the commands Police Public Relations officer(PPRO),DSP Dan Ndukwe,disclosed that the raid was carried out on 11th and 12th August,based on intelligence gathering,without any loss of life on the side of the police.
According to him, the police squad recovered different types of ammunition including pump action guns locally made pistols ,double barrels and life cartridges in the suspected IPOB/ESN camp. Also assorted types of vehicles,motor cycles and clothing materials including army camouflage and police uniform which belonged to their victims.
The Enugu state Police command press statement read in parts,
“In pursuance of the crime fighting strategies devised by the Commissioner of Police, Enugu State Command, CP Abubakar Lawal, fdc, to rid the State of criminals and their activities, Police Operatives of the Command drawn from Tactical Squads and Operation Restore Peace, between 11th and 12th August 2022, carried out a tactical and intelligence-driven 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. The hoodlums, on sighting the Operatives, engaged them in a gun duel, which led to the neutralization of one of them while several others escaped with varying degrees of fatal gunshot wounds, due to the superior firepower of the Operatives.
“The operation led to the discovery and exhumation from a shallow grave in the camp, the corpse of their male victim identified as Okpanachi Johnson, a Police Officer serving in Igbo-Eze North Police Division of the Command, who had gone missing on 30/07/2022, with all effort made to trace his whereabouts proving abortive. Also recovered at the Camp are the following exhibits: twelve (12) firearms, including one AR-K2 Assault, six (6) Pump Action guns, one (1) locally-made Berretta-like pistol and five (5) locally-fabricated double-barreled guns; ninety-eight (98) live cartridges; two (2) Machetes, one (1) Digger, one (1) Battle axe and one (1) Hacksaw; five (5) motor vehicles, including three (3) Toyota Sienna minivans, one (1) Honda Pilot Jeep and one (1) 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; twenty (20) different brands of motorcycles with their plate numbers removed; one (1) Police bullet-proof vest; one (1) pair of Police Camouflage uniform; one (1) pair of Military camouflage uniform with a cap and Military singlet”.
“Others include one (1) piece of red-black-green coloured clothing identified as Biafra flag and another five (5) pieces of masquerade-like attires of the said flag colours; one (1) HP laptop with its bag; twenty two (22) different brands of mobile phones; six (6) different brands of Mp3 players; one (1) Canon camera,Six (6) torchlights,Three (3) rolls of cello-tapes; one (1) air pumping machine; one (1) small yellow-coloured generating set; fifteen (15) fabric armless and five (5) plastic chairs; a set of musical equipment, including band set, piano, guiter and speakers, the hoodlums are alleged to have stolen after invading a church in the area; seven (7) school bags; one (1) Camp bed and twenty (21) pieces of table spoons”.
The command said in a related development, the Police Operatives, on August 8_at about 9.15am, it recovered two (2) AK-47 rifles with four (4) all loaded with a total of sixty four (64) rounds of 7.62mm caliber of live ammunition aftermath of a distress call which alleged that suspected IPOB/ESN invaded and set ablaze the house of a local vigilante in Oduma community Aninri lical government area.
The Command said the recovered ammunitions which include currently in the one (1) locally-made cut-to-size gun, one (1) Dane gun, one (1) Lexus RX 330 and one (1) RX 300 Jeeps, one Honda Pilot Jeep, twenty five (25) machetes, two (2) axes, one (1) dagger, four (4) phones, a Military camouflage uniform, two (2) Forest uniform trousers and fetish items suspected to be charms,are currently at the custody of the 82 division of Nigerian Army,Enugu.
