Police arrest seven, declare three others wanted over IPOB membership
By Chibuzor Odoh, Enugu
Three young middle-aged men, Pius Odika, Stanley Egbuchuna and Ugwu Chukwuemeka Ejike Joseph have been declared wanted by men of the Enugu State Police Command over their alleged membership of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.
While Pius and Stanley are from Anambra State, Ejike is from Enugu State.
They were alleged to be part of the IPOB members who clashed with a combined team of security agencies on July 5, 2023.
It was gathered that while seven members of the pro-Biafra group were arrested, the trio escaped.
According to the police, “they are among the leaders of the illegal group, IPOB. under the guise of demanding release of Nnamdi Kanu, they are constituting nuisance to the Nigerian society.
“Already, the group has been outlawed, so anyone that is a member is offending the law.
“We bursted their camp during one of their illegal meetings but some of them escaped.”
The police added that this necessitated a raid on Ejike’s community on July 8, 2023 to arrest the fleeing suspects.
“On that very day, Pius Odika, Stanley Egbuchuna and Ugwu Chukwuemeka Ejike Joseph were among those who spearheaded the clash between the IPOB members and security agencies.
“They escaped from lawful arrest and we have been on their trail since then.
“There was also a joint operation to re-arrest them from Ejike’s village where they were hiding but they escaped again,” the cop stated, adding that a manhunt for them was in the process.
Meanwhile, Ejike’s elder brother, Mr Chris Ugwu has described the operation carried out by security agencies in their family house as unprovoked.
While lamenting that five persons were shot dead in the community during the raid, he urged human rights organisations to help them get justice.
He narrated that: “They came to the community in the dead of the night and started shooting sporadically, shouting that they were security agencies.
“At least five persons died from gunshot injury, while several houses were set ablaze.
“My brother was fortunately not at home that day, but we have not seen him since then.”
He decried what he called unjust persecution of the people of South-East in Nigeria.
