Troops of the Joint Task Force, Operation Udo Ka, have discovered and exhumed bodies of kidnap victims from a camp belonging to suspected members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed militant wing, Eastern Security Network (ESN) in Imo State.
The Nigerian army disclosed this in a post on its official Facebook page on Sunday.
The army said the discovery and exhumation of the bodies occurred on Friday when the troops raided the suspected IPOB camp.
It said the camp is popularly known as “Monday Oluchi Ogu Camp” and also called “B44 camp.”
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The statement said the operation, which began on Thursday, was aimed at clearing the known IPOB/ESN camp in Njaba River, which shares a boundary with Awo-Omamma Community in Oru East Local Government Area and Ezoiha Community in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State.
“During the clearance operations that continued on Friday, troops came in contact with the criminals. Due to the superior firepower, the terrorists were forced to flee into the nearby bushes with various degrees of injuries and gunshot wounds.
“Troops further encountered and detonated some of the planted improvised explosive devices meant to hinder troops’ movements,” the statement said.
“It is disheartening to discover that some innocent Ndigbo- some reported kidnapped – were gruesomely murdered and buried in shallow graves in the camp without any form of dignity,” it added.
The army said it would conduct forensic analysis of some of the exhumed bodies for a befitting burial.
Three Improvised explosive devices, one RPG bomb, one motorcycle, seven Baofeng handheld radios, local pieces of jewellery, and a foreign ATM card were among the items recovered from the hoodlums during the operation, according to the army.
Others were two SIM cards, two voters’ cards, number plates of stolen vehicles and a toolbox.
The Force Commander Joint Task Force Operation Udo Ka, Hassan Taiwo-Dada, has assured Nigerians of the Nigerian army’s commitment to ensure peace and stability in the South-east, the statement said.
Mr Taiwo-Dada, a major general, urged residents of the South-east to continue providing “timely, reliable and credible information” to the security agencies to aid in the fight against terrorists in the region.
