Troops of the Nigerian Army have destroyed the supreme headquarters of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) at Orsu local government area of Imo State.
The Force Commander of the Joint Task Force South-East, Operation Udo Ka, Maj.-Gen. Hassan Dada, disclosed this to journalists at Eke Ututu, Orsu LGA on Friday.
Operation Udo Ka which started on February 11 involved troops of the Nigerian Army, Navy, Air Force as well as personnel of the Nigerian Police Force, Department of State Services, and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
The commander said the troops cleared and liberated Ihiteukwa, Eke Ututu, and Ihittenansa towns all in Imo, as well as Orsumoghu and Lilu towns in Ihiala and Ekwusigo LGAs of Anambra State.
He said the headquarters which served as the last IPOB stronghold is located in the Mother Valley and spans Orsu and Ihiala LGAs of Imo and Anambra respectively.
Dada said: “It is about 5,000 feet below sea level.
“The well-concealed forest location afforded the terrorists good cover from air surveillance and served as their command and control centre and military council headquarters.
“The troops encountered, detonated, and recovered many Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and various types of obstacles during the raid.
“The troops also came in contact with the terrorists, subdued them with superior firepower, and neutralized many of them while others with varying degrees of gunshot wounds fled into surrounding bushes.
“In addition to many weapons, equipment, IEDs, and stolen vehicles recovered over the last three weeks, items recovered in the Mother Valley include three G3 rifles, nine automatic pump action rifles, seven double barrel guns, two locally-made pistols, two rocket-propelled grenade bombs, two AK 47 magazine, and one G3 magazine.
“Others were 26 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, 16 rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammunition, 72 Pump Action Cartridges, one chainsaw, one laptop, one CCTV DVR, 26 CCTV cameras, 17 Baofeng radios with batteries and 10 without batteries and their chargers.
“Also recovered were six handheld IEDs, 26 Android phones, 25 ordinary phones, one inverter, one SIM card registration machine, four POS machines, three motorcycle batteries for igniting IEDs, two trumpets, two Biafra flags, 20 ESN certificates, two diaries containing details of ammunition and food supplies and two pairs of Biafra Liberation Army uniforms.
“The joint troops also destroyed about 50 tents in the valley housing the Supreme Headquarters, IPOB/ESN command and control center, Buteuzor’s hideout and residence, offices, their logistics base, temples and shrines used for occultic practices among many other items.”