The Military High Command has promised to bring overwhelming military pressure on the proscribed Independent Peoples of Biafra over the killing of five soldiers at a checkpoint at Aba in Abia State on Thursday.
The Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba, made this known in a statement on Friday in Abuja.
Buba said the military would be fierce in its response to the dastard act and would bring overwhelming military pressure on the group to ensure their total defeat.
He said the troops of Operation UDO KA deployed at Obikabia Junction Checkpoint in Obingwa Local Government Areas adjourning Aba metropolis in Abia were attacked and sadly killed by terrorists of IPOB/ESN.
According to him, the troops deployed to enforce peace in the area and protect the citizens were mass attacked by the terrorists.
He said the terrorists who were in three tinted Prado Toyota SUVs and others from built-up areas surrounding the checkpoint, sprang a surprise attack on the checkpoint.
According to the military, six civilians were also killed in the crossfire.
“The troops deployed to enforce peace in the area and protect the citizens were massed and attacked by the terrorists.
“The terrorists in 3 tinted Prado Toyota SUVs and others from built-up areas surrounding the checkpoint, sprang a surprise attack on the checkpoint.
“Overall, it must be reiterated that the lifeline of the terrorist is the people and this situation is no exemption. Winning the war without the support of the people is close to impossible.
“The IPOB capitalized on this to perpetrate attacks on the troops. The situation leaves more to be desired. Accordingly, it is absolutely imperative that the military retaliate against this dastardly act against troops.
“The military would be fierce in its response. We would bring overwhelming military pressure on the group to ensure their total defeat,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the President of Ohaneze Ndi-Igbo, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has distanced himself and the detained leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, from the killing of soldiers in Aba.
He described the incident as saddening, stating that Kanu was not behind the order for the sit-at-home.
Iwuanyanwu appealed to President Bola Tinubu to use his political power to free Kanu.
He was speaking shortly after he visited the detained leader in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) on Thursday. He also called for the restructuring of the country.
Last week, IPOB declared May 30 as a sit-at-home in the southeast to honor “our heroes and heroines” who died in the civil war between 1967 and 1970.
The “Biafran Heroes Day” sit-at-home declared by the outlawed group paralysed commercial and economic activities in parts of Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Abia and Ebonyi States as banks, schools, markets, motor parks, fuel stations, and other public places were shut on Thursday
