Troops involved in Operation Udoka in the South-East have apprehended a suspected “founding father” of the banned Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) along with several others.
The arrests occurred in Orsu, Imo State, as well as Amaruku and Arochukwu in Abia State, according to Major Gen Edward Buba, Director of Defence Media Operations.
He provided this update during the bi-weekly briefing of the Defence Headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, highlighting the military’s recent successes.
“In the South-East, the troops of Operation Udoka, Forward Operational Base (FOB), Orsu, in a sting operation, apprehended a terrorist leader belonging to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its Eastern Security Network (ESN) terrorist group known as Mr Pius Iguh. He is an IPOB founding father responsible for the Orsu general area in Imo State,” he said.
“Also in a separate development, troops of FOB Amaruku conducted a raid on an Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) commanders’ location. The raid was successful and led to the arrest of the commander identified as Emmanuel Onwugu in Mbano Local Government Area of Abia State.”
According to him, troops also arrested another suspect Ifeanyi Rock who is a “notorious cult leader”.
He said the operation which was in collaboration with security forces “led to the arrest of a notorious cult leader named Ifeanyi Rock and ten of his commanders in the Arochukwu Local Government Area of Abia State”.
Major General Buba reported that the Defence Headquarters also recovered various items and weapons during operations in the South-East.
Additionally, troops rescued 76 kidnap victims over the past week. He noted that 140 terrorists were neutralized and 135 were arrested during these operations.
“We will continue to do more of that,” he said.
In the battle against crude oil theft, he reported that troops apprehended 18 suspects involved in the crime.
Additionally, forces in the Niger Delta recovered more than 1,122,710 liters of stolen crude oil and over 557,210 liters of illegally refined diesel, also known as AGO.
They also dismantled several illegal refining sites in the region
