The alleged IPOB/ESN members were killed last Friday during a raid carried out on their camp in between Ezinifite town and the Amaruru area of the state.
Troops of the Nigerian Army have neutralised scores of alleged members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and the Eastern Security Network (ESN) in Imo State.
The alleged IPOB/ESN members were killed last Friday during a raid carried out on their camp in between Ezinifite town and the Amaruru area of the state.
ESN is the militant wing of the separatist organisation, IPOB. Its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is currently being detained by Nigeria's secret police, the Department of State Services (DSS) and facing trial for offences bordering on terrorism and others.
Some soldiers also sustained bullet wounds during the operation and were rushed to the hospital for immediate treatment.
During the operation, pump-action shotguns, locally fabricated guns, revolver pistols, rounds of 7.62 mm special, live cartridges, machetes and IPOB flags were recovered by the troops.
IPOB leader, Kanu, in December 2020 launched ESN to protect the people of South-East and South-South regions from terrorists and bandits allegedly trooping in from the North.
Kanu described the outfit as a replica of the Western Nigeria Security Network, also known as Amotekun, earlier launched by the governors of the South-West to curb insecurity in the region.
“The sole aim and objective of this newly formed security outfit known as Eastern Security Network is to halt every criminal activity and terrorist attack on Biafraland,” Kanu had said.
“This outfit, which is a vigilante group like the Amotekun in the South-West and the Miyetti Allah security outfit, will ensure the safety of our forests and farmland which terrorists have converted into slaughter grounds and raping fields.”
He added that the establishment of the security outfit became necessary following what he described as the “failure” of the governors of the South-South and South-East to put in place measures to protect the people in those regions.
