Abducted soldier: IPOB reacts, blames armed gangs

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on Friday said its security outfit Eastern Security Network (ESN) had no hand in the abduction of a soldier in Ebem Ohafia in Abia State.

The group described false claims by the Army that it raided ESN hideouts in Amangwu community of the State, in an attempt to rescue an abducted soldier, Staff Sergeant Bassey Ikunugwan.

In a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary Emma Powerful, IPOB insisted that ESN operatives do not have any camp in Amangwu Ohafia.

It stressed that if there is any such camp in the area, it is not an ESN camp, adding that the armed gangs at the camp are not working for the group.

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The separatist group maintained that its security camps are secured and sacred territories, while its outfit consists of disciplined gallant men and women who don’t indulge in kidnapping and ransom.

The statement partly reads: “We wish to debunk concocted and state sponsored media blackmail by Nigeria Military claims that they invaded ESN camp in Ohafia, Biafraland.

“We have said it before now that ESN operatives do not have any camp in Amangwu Ohafia LGA. All the criminal camps that the Nigeria Army have claimed to have invaded are not ESN camps.