The troops of Joint Task Force South-East operation have raided and destroyed the Supreme Headquarters known as Mother Valley of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed affiliate, Eastern Security Network (ESN) located around Orsu and Ihiala Local government area of Imo and Anambra States respectively.
According to a statement issued by the Nigerian Army on Friday, the mother valley which is about 5,000 feet below sea level, was raided by the troops comprising of the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Navy, Nigerian Air Force, the Nigeria Police, the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) officials.
While describing what ensued during the operations, the army said that the ESN team were subdued with superior firepower with many neutralised, while others with varying degrees of gunshot wounds fled into the bush.
Recovered items include many command Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and various types of obstacles.
Weapons, equipment, IEDs and stolen vehicles also recovered include; 3 x G3 rifles, 9 x automatic pump action rifles, 7 x Double Barrel Guns, 2 x Locally Made Pistols, 2 x rocket-propelled grenades bombs, 2 x AK 47 magazines and 1 x G3 magazine. Others are 26 rounds of 7.62mm Special ammunition, 16 rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammunition, 72 pump action cartridges, 1 x chainsaw, 1 x laptop, 1 x CCTV DVR, 26 x CCTV cameras, 17 x baofeng radios with batteries and 10 without batteries including their chargers. Also recovered were 6 x handheld IEDs, 26 x android phones, 25 x normal phones, 1 x inverter, 1 x SIM card registration machine, 4 x POS machines, 3 x motorcycle batteries for igniting IEDs, 2 x trumpets, 2 x Biafra flags, 20 x ESN certificates, 2 x dairies containing details of ammunition, food supplies and two pairs of Biafra liberation army uniforms.
While appreciating other sister security agencies, the GOV 82 Division of the Nigerian Army and the Force Commander Joint Task Force South East Operation UDO KA, Major General Hassan Dada, enjoined the leaders of all liberated communities to return to their ancestral homes, emplace community efforts to ensure that all criminal elements not from the communities are not allowed to return to desecrate their homelands.
He called on all law-abiding people of the South-East, to provide timely and actionable information to the army-free toll and emergency line, 193 to help make the South-East geopolitical zone a peaceful and conducive environment for socio-economic development to thrive.
