Imo State Police Command on Wednesday said it arrested a deserter from the Nigerian Army and one of the notorious and vicious commanders of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Lance Corporal Nwangwu Chiwendu also known as “Onyearmy”.
The Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Mike Abattam, paraded the suspect in Owerri.
He said the native of Amaohuru Nguru in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State was arrested December 23, 2022, around 10.30 am in his hometown.
He said the 34-year-old who had been on the command’s wanted list had confessed that his group was responsible for the killing of Adamawa State-born politician, Ahmed Gulak, and security personnel in various locations in the state.
Mr Gulak, a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), was shot dead by gunmen in Owerri on 30 May 2021 on his way to Sam Mbakwe Airport en route to Abuja.
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Abattam said the commander of the militant wing of the IPOB known as Eastern Security Network (ESN) and his group adopted a gorilla-like operation by unleashing surprise terror attacks and then going into hiding in neighbouring states.
He said: “In the course of interrogation, the terror Kingpin confessed to have enlisted into the Nigerian Army in 2013, where he trained as an engineer and became an expert in weapons handling and servicing of all heavy automatic weapons.
“He rose to the rank of Lance Corporal before he deserted the Army and joined the Indigenous People of Biafra and its arm affiliate, Eastern Security Network through one, Ebubechukwu (surname unknown) and became the operational commander and chief trainer of the outlawed group where he claimed to have trained over one thousand members in weaponry and terror attack in their camp located in Ogbotoukwu, a forest, in Obowu LGA of Imo State.
“He further confessed to have participated and led in several vicious killings of security personnel, attacks on INEC offices, burning of police stations, murder of innocent people, armed robbery/kidnapping, terrorism and narrated how on 30th May, 2021, they murdered the late Ahmed Gulak, the former political adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan.
“He confessed that he led the operation and they double crossed and stopped the Toyota Camry taxi car that was taking him and his friend to the airport and ordered them to come down, shot him but the bullet did not penetrate his body, so he went to him and removed the rings on his right fingers, shot and killed him along airport road.”
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