Troops of the 34 Artillery Brigade have killed two gunmen suspected to be members of the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) in Imo state.
The Director of Army Public Relations, Onyema Nwachukwu, who disclosed this via a statement on Tuesday said the gunmen were killed by the troops in a gun battle on Orlu–Orsu Road on Monday.
Nwachukwu said four other suspected IPOB members were arrested following the gun battle, adding that the incident took place while the troops were on routine patrol.
According to him, the gunmen opened fire and launched a grenade attack on the troops, noting that the soldiers responded with superior firepower.
“In a hot pursuit that followed the encounter, troops arrested four of the fleeing gunmen and recovered one AK 47 rifle, two magazines, one Police grenade launcher, two Baofeng communication radios and five mobile phones,” the army spokesman said.
“The troops also recovered one IPOB beret, two motorcycles, four SIM cards, five wallets containing different Identity cards, charms and the sum of N16, 460.
“Preliminary investigation on the suspects’ mobile phones reveals gory pictures and videos depicting scenes of cold-blooded murders, corpses displayed in shrines and other heinous atrocities committed by the criminals.”