Ebonyi police command has said that it has recovered several arms following a raid on a bomb factory of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The police command described the bomb factory as the “biggest” in the south-east geopolitical zone.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Chris Anyanwu, police spokesperson in Ebonyi, said the bomb factory was uncovered after officers received intelligence from locals.
He said the miscreants engaged the officers in a gunfight, and their factional leader was eventually arrested.
Anyanwu said two IPOB members were killed, while officers who sustained injuries are currently receiving treatment.
“The invasion of the criminals’ den was necessitated by an earlier encounter between operatives of the Command’s Tactical Teams sequel to credible information gathered that the hoodlums were operating/wreaking havoc in the state with a Toyota Sienna space bus which they robbed at gunpoint from the owner within Ishielu axis,” the statement reads.
“A quick trail and joint effort with a team of detectives attached to Ohaukwu Division led to the arrest of Sunday Ubah a.k.a Bongo, the state commander of the IPOB/ESN in Ebonyi state.
The miscreant who gave revealing pieces of information about the activities and modus operandi of the criminals, initially claimed that he is their PRO and native of Umunnochi in Isuikwuato LGA, Abia state.
“However, a scrupulous investigation aided by his antecedents/profile with the police command proved that he is a native of Obegu, Onicha LGA of Ebonyi state and indeed the factional commander of the outfit in Obegu.
“The police bomb expert in the command described it as a complete bomb factory – the biggest in the south-east and that each of the hand grenades (first of its kind) is capable of causing colossal damage to buildings and mass killing of humans.”
The police spokesperson said weapons recovered from the bomb factory include 30 pieces of IEDs, a non-electric initiator/detonator, 63 wraps of superpower, 90mm gelatin, and two solar prime 90mm gelatin.
Other arms are 16 danger 90 gelatin, 20 ideal power 90 gelatin 50mm, 239 pieces of plain non-electric detonators, 14 pieces of primed novels, 99 pieces of one-inch safety fuses, and one complete roll of safety fuse.