Troops of the Nigerian Army belonging to the 34 Artillery Brigade have killed two fighters of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) which is the militant arm of the proscribed Indigenous Peipks Of Biafra (IPOB).
According to a statement made available to Naija News on Tuesday by the spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, the ESN fighters were killed in Imo State on Monday during a fierce gun battle with the soldiers.
The gunbattle took place along the Orlu-Orsu road.
The statement added that apart from the two persons killed, four other fighters were also arrested while items including weapons, phones, cash, and others were recovered.
According to Onyema, it was the ESN gunmen that first opened fire on the troops who were on a routine patrol around the general area of Aluminium Company and All Saints Church in Imo State.
They however fell to the superior firepower of the gallant troops.
“Troops of 34 Artillery Brigade, Nigerian Army(NA) have neutralized two gun men and arrested four other members of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra(IPOB) and its armed affiliate, Eastern Security Network (ESN) in a fierce gun battle along Orlu – Orsu Road on 25 April 2022, the statement said.
“The troops, while on routine patrol made contact with elements of IPOB/ESN around the general area of Aluminium Company and All Saints Church.
On sighting the patrol team, the criminal elements opened fire and launched grenade attack on the troops. The vigilant troops responded with superior firepower neutralizing two of the criminal elements, compelling others to flee in disarray.
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, five mobile phones, one IPOB Beret, two Motorcycles, four SIM cards, five wallets containing different ID cards, aphrodisiac, charms and the sum of Sixteen Thousand Four Hundred and Sixty Naira only.
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.”
This article was originally published on Nigeria News