Police raid IPOB/ESN camp, kill one, recover police officer’s corpse, other items
From Chinedu Nwafor Abakaliki
Police in Enugu State have killed one suspect during a raid in IPOB/ESN camp located inside a forest at Agu-Ibeje in Enugu-Ezike community of Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of the state.
The Operatives also recovered a corpse of a police officer earlier declared missing.
The deceased officer’s body was exhumed in a shallow grave.
A statement signed by the Commissioner of Police, Enugu State Command, CP Abubakar Lawal, and made available to Journalists in Enugu on Tuesday, also disclosed that several items were recovered during the operation, that took place between 11th and 12 of August, 2022.
The statement reads: “In pursuance of the crime fighting strategies devised by the Commissioner of Police, Enugu State Command, CP Abubakar Lawal, fdc, to rid the State of criminals and their activities, Police Operatives of the Command drawn from Tactical Squads and Operation Restore Peace, between 11th and 12th August 2022, carried out a tactical and intelligence-driven dusk to dawn raid of IPOB/ESN camp in a forest at Agu-Ibeje in Enugu-Ezike community of Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area.
“The hoodlums, on sighting the Operatives, engaged them in a gun duel, which led to the neutralization of one of them while several others escaped with varying degrees of fatal gunshot wounds, due to the superior firepower of the Operatives.
“The operation led to the discovery and exhumation from a shallow grave in the camp, the corpse of their male victim identified as Okpanachi Johnson, a Police Officer serving in Igbo-Eze North Police Division of the Command, who had gone missing on 30/07/2022, with all effort made to trace his whereabouts proving abortive.
“Also recovered at the Camp are the following exhibits: twelve (12) firearms, including one AR-K2 Assault, six (6) Pump Action guns, one (1) locally-made Berretta-like pistol and five (5) locally-fabricated double-barreled guns; ninety-eight (98) live cartridges; two (2) Machetes, one (1) Digger, one (1) Battle axe and one (1) Hacksaw; five (5) motor vehicles, including three (3) Toyota Sienna minivans, one (1) Honda Pilot Jeep and one (1) Hiace (Hummer) bus loaded with assorted Ankara fabrics, all reported to have been snatched from their owners at different times within the area by the hoodlums; twenty (20) different brands of motorcycles with their plate numbers removed; one (1) Police bullet-proof vest; one (1) pair of Police Camouflage uniform; one (1) pair of Military camouflage uniform with a cap and Military singlet among others,” he said
The Commissioner said “In a related development, the Police Operatives also recovered two AK-47 rifles with four all loaded with a total of sixty four rounds of 7.62mm caliber of live ammunition (currently in the custody of 82 Division of the Nigerian Army Enugu), one locally-made cut-to-size gun, one Dane gun, one Lexus RX 330 and one RX 300 Jeeps, one Honda Pilot Jeep, twenty five machetes, two axes, one dagger, four phones, a Military camouflage uniform, two Forest uniform trousers and fetish items suspected to be charms.
“The recovery is sequel to the Operatives swift response to a distress call alleging that IPOB/ESN hoodlums invaded and set ablaze the house of a local vigilante at Oduma community in Aninri Local Government Area on the said date,” he said
The Commissioner, while commending the Operatives for the successful execution of the operations without any casualty recorded by the Command, charged them to remain focused on actualizing the overall goal of ridding the State of unrepentant criminal elements.
He further called on residents of the State to remain law-abiding, vigilant and support the Command with credible information and/or intelligence it requires to combat criminals and their activities, even as he called on individuals and owners of medical facilities to quickly report anyone sighted with gunshot injuries to the Police.
