Military Seeks Public’s Help to Identify Attackers Who Killed Two Soldiers in Abia

On Wednesday, November 13, gunmen launched an assault on an army checkpoint at Ekenobizi, a border community between Abia and Imo states in Umuopara, Umuahia South Local Government Area. The attack, which took place along the Umuahia-Owerri Road, left two soldiers dead.

While Abia State Police PRO, Chinaka Chioma Maureen, declined to comment on whether the police are making any efforts to identify the perpetrators and the reason behind the attack, she instead redirected inquiries to military authorities.

When Lieutenant Omale Innocent Prince, Acting Assistant Director, Army Public Relations in Abia State, was reached by Neusroom, he provided a press statement signed by Lieutenant Colonel Jonah Unuakhalu of the Joint Task Force South East Operation UDO KA.

“In the early hours of today, 13 November 2024, troops of the Joint Task Force South East Operation UDO KA, deployed at a checkpoint along the Umuahia–Owerri Road in Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State, came under attack by the irredentist group Indigenous People of Biafra and its armed affiliate, the Eastern Security Network,” Unuakhalu’s statement read.

“During the attack, the gallant troops were able to repel the assault, forcing the attackers to retreat in disarray with gunshot wounds, abandoning one Sienna and one Lexus Jeep used in the attack. However, in the ensuing firefight, two soldiers paid the supreme price.”

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What We Know About the Attack in Abia

Although Lieutenant Prince did not provide an update on whether any arrests regarding the attack had been made, the statement appealed for residents in the state to provide the task force with “relevant, reliable, and credible information that could help in apprehending the fleeing members of the irredentist group who committed this heinous crime.”

In a video sent to Neusroom by a resident, gunmen can be seen destroying the army checkpoint while issuing threats to the Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, warning him to remove all military checkpoints in the state or “they’ll come for him.”

Attacks of this nature are typically seen on Mondays, a day when IPOB enforces its sit-at-home order across the southeastern region.

Several residents who spoke to Neusroom on the condition of anonymity expressed uncertainty over the specific reasons for the attack but acknowledged that tension remains high due to continued security challenges in the region.

However, Neusroom understands that IPOB has long opposed the presence of military checkpoints and other security installations in the southeast, regarding them as obstacles to their mission of independence from Nigeria and as a means of extortion and intimidation imposed by the government against residents in the region.

“IPOB in the past has raised alarms that the military and police checkpoints in the East are part of the insecurity, as they enable kidnapping and car-snatching gangs’ activities,” said the spokesman of IPOB, Emma Powerful, in a statement in July.

He continued, “The presence of these soldiers and police officers at various checkpoints has not reduced insecurity. Instead, the Nigerian soldiers at the checkpoints are humiliating, intimidating, and extorting money from residents, raping our women, and passing information to kidnappers. They are working with the kidnappers, who deliver shares of ransom collected from kidnapped victims to them.”

The group’s leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who was arrested in Kenya in 2021 and brought back to Nigeria, remains in detention, a situation that has contributed to a surge in violent confrontations and attacks across the southeastern states.

However, Lieutenant Colonel Unuakhalu said the task force will continue to safeguard life and property.

“The Joint Task Force South East Operation UDO KA will continue to carry out its constitutional roles of safeguarding lives and property in line with global best practice as laid down in the rules of engagement guiding its operations,” he said.