Nigerian Army Foils Attack On Police Command, Kills 11 Separatist Fighters

Nigerian Army on Friday, May 6,  said it had foiled an attack by ‘separatist fighters’ on a police command in Orlu Local Government Area, Imo State, Southeast Nigeria.

The military troops also killed 11 members of the proscribed separatist group— Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a statement by Mohammed Yerima, the army spokesperson said.

Yerima said the separatist fighters were resisted in an intense fight with the joint forces of the police, army, and airforce  when they  launched an attack on the police command on Thursday night.

“A gang of IPOB/ESN terrorists mounted in vehicles on Thursday, 6 May 2021, stormed Orlu town with intention to attack the compound housing the Area Command and Police Station in Orlu LGA of Imo State,” Yerima said in the statement.

“The attackers were resisted by vigilant police personnel at the Area Command and were completely obliterated when a reinforcement team of the Nigerian Army and Nigerian Air Force arrived at the scene.”

According to the army spokesperson, an Intel by the Joint Technical Intelligence Team had revealed the assailants came from a forest camp in Ideato North Local Government Area of the state from where they had mobilised and planned their failed attack.

A cache of firearms—four AK47 rifles, G3 and  pump action rifles as well as a barretta pistol— was recovered, Yerima said, adding that seven operational vehicles used for the attack were seized from “terrorists as they escaped on foot with fatal injuries.”

There were no casualties on the side of the security forces, he said.

He said, “Law abiding citizens in the area are advised to look out for strange persons with gunshot injuries and report the same to the nearest security agency for the safety of their communities.”

The failed attack came a month after the separatists attacked the state police command and a correctional facility, both in Owerri, Imo State capital, releasing over 1,800 detainees.

In 2017, the Nigerian government outlawed IPOB led by Nnamdi Kanu and labelled it a terrorist group after a series of atrocities allegedly perpetuated by the group. 

The tension in the Southeast and South-south regions has heightened with clashes between security forces and members of the outlawed group.