The Nigerian Army said it has raided some illegal refineries and recovered artillery weapons armed with projectile launchers, allegedly belonging to the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra and Eastern Security Network in Anambra State.
This was disclosed on Tuesday, in a statement signed by the Director of Army Public Relations, Onyema Nwachukwu and shared on the X (formerly Twitter) page of the force.
According to the statement, one suspected member of the IPOB/ESN was arrested during the operation while other weapons were seized.
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The statement read, “Combined troops of 302 Artillery and 14 Field Engineer Regiments of the Nigerian Army, conducting operations against terrorists, have on Monday 16 October 2023 captured two locally made Artillery Projectile Launchers from fighters of the Indigenous People of Biafra and its armed affiliate, Eastern Security Network (IPOB/ESN).
“The artillery weapons, armed with projectiles were seized alongside other items, as troops swooped on the dissident fighters, who fled in disarray, deserting their camp on sighting troops’ advancement.
“In the operation, one combatant of the dissident group was arrested and several items, including 48 rounds of 7.62 mm NATO ammunition, 4 mobile phones, one handheld communication radio and substance suspected to be cannabis, among others were recovered by the troops.”
The force also disclosed that in another operation, illegal refineries were raided and about 50,000 litres of crude oil and sacks of illegally refined automation gas were discovered among other illegal items.
“In a separate operation on the same day, troops of 34 Artillery Brigade conducted an offensive operation against oil thieves in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State. Troops recovered several items from the camp, including one crude oil cooking oven, three reservoirs, several connecting hoses and pipes, three mobile phones, one Power Generating set, 3 Pumping machines, one CCTV Camera mounted on a tree top, substance suspected to be cannabis and some fetish objects.
“Same troops, in a similar operation conducted the same day, uncovered and destroyed an illegal refining site, operating with several drums and crude oil ovens, laden with stolen crude oil, a dug out pit containing about 50,000 litres of crude oil and 57 sacks of illegally refined automation gas oil.
“Surprisingly, the sacks of illegally refined products were surreptitiously concealed in a community health centre at Egbema Shell and Egbema West respectively in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State,” Nwachukwu disclosed.
(Punch)
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