Security operatives storm criminal hideouts, dislodge suspected IPOB members in Imo

A joint team of security operatives has raided criminal hideouts and dislodged suspected members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, in Aku, Okigwe Council Area of Imo State.

The Commander, 34 Artillery Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Obinze, Owerri, Brig.-Gen. Usman Lawal, made this known while addressing newsmen in Aku, Okigwe on Tuesday.

The joint team comprises the military, police, DSS and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC.

According to Lawal, the clearance operation, which started on Friday, November 29, was carried out amid credible intelligence, to clear the area of the menace of suspected members of the IPOB.

“As a result of the operation, peace has started to return to the area, so we urge the people of Aku to cooperate with security operatives by availing them with credible, helpful information,” he said.

The commander, however, said that a notorious IPOB commander, identified as Ifeanyi Okorienta, and his gang had already been displaced, and assured residents of the area that they could come home to celebrate the Yuletide.

Imo State Commissioner of Police, Mr Aboki Danjuma, on his part, pledged continued cooperation with all security agencies involved in the operation.

Also speaking, the Special Adviser on Security Matters to Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State, Gen. Joseph Chima (Rtd), assured Imo people of the government’s commitment to provision of logistics for the activities of security operatives.