The Imo State Police Command said it has arrested 26 enforcers of the illegal sit-at-home order by some suspected members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The police also arrested 53 other suspects involved in criminal activities ranging from conspiracy, armed robbery, murder, defilement, kidnapping, child trafficking, unlawful possession of prohibited firearms, car snatching and vandalisation of electrical cables.
On Wednesday, at a press conference at the Command headquarters in Owerri, the state capital, the police spokesman in the state, Henry Okoye said the sit-at-home enforcers suspected to be IPOB members were arrested and investigation ongoing.
He stated the suspects were arrested after a shootout with the police at Irete community along Onitsha Road where they were illegally enforcing a sit-at-home order.
The police spokesman, who also paraded 53 other suspects from numerous criminal activities, said the Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Barde and the hierarchy of the Command are working for socio-economic activities to thrive in the state.
“These are suspects that were linked with various criminal cases. In the course of investigating the cases, a total of 32 assault guns, made up of two AK-47 rifles, 70 rounds of ammunition, five snatched but recovered vehicles, seven motorcycles retrieved from their snatchers, kidnappers and criminal suspects,” he said.