26 sit-at-home enforcers arrested in Imo

• One Remigius Emeka Njoku was killed by the sit-at-home enforcers
• Police said suspects opened fire on people at a birthday party

Twenty six sit-at-home enforcers suspected of belonging to the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have been apprehended, the police in Imo state have disclosed.

The state’s Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Ahmed Barde, made the disclosure while addressing journalists in Owerri on Wednesday.

He said the arrest of the suspects followed a report by residents who claimed they saw IPOB members in a hotel (name withheld) at Catering bus stop, Free Zone, Irete.

Barde said operatives of the command’s tactical team, working in collaboration with operatives of the 18 Police Mobile Force, swung into action and mobilised to the scene after the report.

The suspects are accused of indiscriminate and sporadic shooting and attacking people celebrating a birthday in the hotel near Irete.

He said the ruinous non-state engaged the police operatives in nerve-wracking guel duel but they were subdued by the security agents overwhelming firepower.

Barde said: “Unfortunately, a lifeless body, later identified as Remigius Emeka Njoku, a relative to the celebrant, was seen lying on the floor in his pool of blood. The outlawed IPOB and ESN unlawful sit-at-home enforcers immediately opened fire on sighting police operatives, but they were overwhelmed by the dexterity, stiff resistance, and superior firepower of the police, which forced them to flee to the adjourning bush with various degrees of gunshot injuries.”

He said further: “On combing the hotel and nearby bush, traces of blood were seen, which suggested that some of these terrorists were hit.

“During the search around the hotel, one AK-47 rifle, 48 rounds of live ammunition, four pump-action guns, 18 rounds of live cartridges, two AK-47 magazines, and a face mask were recovered. A total of 26 suspects were arrested; they are still undergoing thorough screening.”

The police boss added that “investigation is ongoing, and certainly the suspects will be arraigned in court upon the conclusion of a diligent investigation.”