An operative of the Eastern Security Network, the militant arm of the Indigenous People of Biafra(IPOB) has been arrested by the police, who narrated how he and other members broke into the Imo State Police Command and the Imo State Correctional facility in Owerri, the state capital.
Sources claimed that the suspect, who gave his name only as Andy, alias Japan, was arrested in the Orsu Local Government Area of Imo State, and confessed to have participated in the April 5 invasion of the two government buildings in the state capital.
In a video recording of his confession, Andy said he and others were conveyed in a bus before dawn as they invaded the correctional centre noting that he and others broke the windows of the correctional facility as the inmates ran out.
“My name is Andy alias Japan. I come from Orsu LGA. I joined the ESN about three years ago. I participated in the attack on the police headquarters and prison.
We did it because of some of our members who were in the prison. We went there to rescue them. I don’t know anyone of the inmates. I was not armed; I was only carrying a big stick. I entered the prison. I broke the windows and glasses. I joined the ESN because they were freedom fighters. We are looking for freedom.
“Our bus was the one which first passed. I only heard that they killed soldiers. I was in a small bus; we picked another guy on the road. As I am now, I know I have offended, but the government should free me. I have been living in Igweocha (Rivers State). I am married and I have children. They (ESN) don’t pay me one naira. They don’t pay anything. When Biafra comes, they will take care of us and our children.” He confessed.
Report had it that on Tuesday, April 20, security personnel stormed some Imo State communities to carry out raids, discreet searches and arrests of youths and residents who are suspected to be linked to the Indigenous People of Biafra and its military arm, the Eastern Security Network.
Sources claimed that the military personnel, led by the 34 Artillery Brigade, Owerri, since Sunday have been arresting male residents and youths particularly in Oguta and Ohaji communities and clamping them into vans.
A resident of Imo State said that the state has become a hotbed of violence and killings which got to a head on April 5, when the notorious gunmen attacked the state police command headquarters, and freed no fewer than 2,000 inmates at the headquarters of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Owerri.
The gunmen had also attacked the office of the State Criminal Investigation Department of the state police command, freeing suspects there.
The attackers were said to have burnt all the vehicles parked at the command headquarters and freed all the suspects in almost all the cells at the SCID.
