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Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
The Imo State Police Command has confirmed the arrest of 67 members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) including their herbalist at Mmahu Egbema.
According to a press statement by police spokesman Orlando, Ikeokwu, the members of he proscribed Igbo separatist group were arrested for unlawful gathering, among other offences.
He recalled that the arrested IPOB members had converged somewhere in Owerri North area of the State on August 9 before moving to Egbema where they were said to be arrested at a checkpoint by soldiers.
The soldiers, Ikeokwu said, called the police for einforcement who arrested and took custody of the offenders to the State Police Command, Owerri.
Ikeokwu said that the arrested members of the group were heading to the residence of one Cyprian Amadi in Abashieke, Egbema in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area, said to be a herbalist, to fortify themselves against bullets.
The police spokesman also stated that the group is planning an attack on security agencies with the aim of snatching weapons.
He recalled that the suspected herbalist had removed bullets from an IPOB member who sustained gunshot injuries in the past.
‘It is also noteworthy that the group attacked and snatched two rifles from police during a violent protest in 2018, of which the rifles were later recovered from a kidnap gang in a robbery operation,’ Ikeokwu said.
He warned that the police will not tolerate any form of gathering from the group which has been proscribed by the Federal Government.
