A factional leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB), Simon Ekpa, has claimed responsibility for the killing of four police operatives in Owerri, Imo State.
Recall that on Monday, suspected IPOB members attacked and killed four police operatives along the Onitsha-Owerri Expressway on Monday evening.
The Biafra agitators also shot dead a woman – a Point on Sale (PoS) machine operator – in the area.
Mr Ekpa, a Nigerian who is based in Finland, heads Autopilot, a faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The factional leader also founded Biafra Defence Forces and Biafra Liberation Army, which are armed militant wings of the Autopilot IPOB.
He has been linked to some deadly attacks in the region.
Ekpa claims responsibility
In a post on his X handle shortly after the attack, Mr Ekpa announced that members of his Biafra Defence Forces had killed the operatives in Owerri.
“The Biafra Defence Forces Owerri Command has recovered weapons from the terrorists after neutralising them in numbers,” he wrote on the microblogging platform at exactly 8:50 p.m. on Monday.
Mr Ekpa, a Nigerian-Finnish citizen, often refers to Nigerian security operatives as “terrorists.”
The Biafra agitator said he and his group are demanding the withdrawal of all Nigerian security forces from the South-east and that they were committed to enforcing the demand.
“If you think you will continue to use force and terrorism tactics to force us to remain in the union, this will continue to be your faith in Biafraland,” Mr Ekpa stated, referring to the latest attack on the police.
Mr Ekpa also attached a video clip to the X post.
The clip showed four rifles and some police case files displayed by some persons who claimed to have attacked and killed the operatives.
The clip, however, did not show the faces of the persons speaking in the background.
“Papa, it wasn’t easy. You know today is the beginning of sit-at-home (in the South-east). People were asked to sit at home, and these people (police operatives) came out to extort people,” one person said in the Igbo language.
“These are Nigerian terrorists who were at their duty post despite our leader’s sit-at-home order. But they felt they work for the government and would not obey the order,” he stated.
“They have now seen it happen today in Owerri, which is 29 July 2024.”
The armed men appeared to be making a report of their operation to Mr Ekpa, who had earlier declared a four-day sit-at-home in the South-east.
Apparently addressing security operatives, one of the armed men added: “Our leader earlier told you, people, that any police or army operative in Biafraland, it is better you resign or we will use your head to work.”
