Police Disrupt IPOB Gathering, Recover Arms, Arrest Member, Declare Coordinator, Others Wanted

The joint task force of the Nigerian Police and the Nigerian army on February 16th arrested a member of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) during a coordinated raid in Mbaitoli local government area of Imo State while 2 members were killed in the shoot-out between the proscribed IPOB members and the joint task force.

A gathering of some members of the proscribed IPOB members of Mbaitoli zone in a secluded area close to a bush was disrupted by the joint task force acting on an intelligence report on February 16th 2022 leading to the arrest of Chinedu Okolie (a.k.a Bullet), it was confirmed.

It was said that 2 members of IPOB were killed in the process while 1 was arrested as. heavy shoot-out between members of the joint task force and the IPOB was reported as others reportedly escaped during the disruption of the gathering where some unconfirmed number of arms were recovered.

Following the escape of other members of the proscribed IPOB members, men and officers of the joint task force commenced with the searching and combing of the entire community for the fleeing members as it was gathered that one Izuchukwu Cornelius Ogu who hails from Afara Mbaitoli local government area of Imo State was the coordinator of IPOB in the community.

A source who craved anonymity in the Imo State Command of the Nigerian Police said that the arrested member Chinedu Okolie and other fleeing members of the proscribed IPOB group would be charged with attempts to commit treasonable felony adding that Chinedu Okolie would soon be prosecuted in accordance with the provisions of the law.

The homes and business premises of the fleeing members were also not spared in the search for other members as some relatives and other family members reportedly incurred the wrath of the joint task force who deployed the use of brute force in their operations, an unnamed source confirmed.

Property and buildings belonging to members including that of Izuchukwu Cornelius Ogu, the coordinator of IPOB were burnt down as families and many relatives reportedly scampered for safety to escape the wrath of the joint task force officers .

Meanwhile, a statement made available to journalists by the Imo State Command of the Nigerian Police stated that 1 member of the IPOB group known as Chinedu Okolie (a.k.a Bullet) was arrested during a raid on members of Mbaitoli zone in a bush leading to a disruption of their unlawful gathering as 2 others were confirmed dead in a shoot-out as arms were also recovered while others escaped.

According to the statement, the Imo State Command of the Nigerian Police was working assiduously with other security agencies to arrest and to apprehend other fleeing members of the proscribed IPOB members including the coordinator Izuchukwu Cornelius Ogu whose whereabouts remain largely unknown to anyone in the community.

Some of the names of the fleeing members include Izuchukwu Cornelius Ogu as the zonal coordinator, Uzodinma Kalu, Uchena Agwu, Obinna Amaechi, David Obiora, Nnamdi Eze, Okoye Ezenwa, Ejiofor Peterson, Larry Ezeonu, Agunyi Chuchukwudi and Ezeife Nwabara as members’.