Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Pierre Antoine
The Imo State Police Command says it arrested 75 suspects over the past month in a broad security operation targeting kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism, murder, stealing and alleged terrorism linked to IPOB/ESN cells. The announcement was made in Owerri by the state commissioner of police, Audu Garba Bosso, who said the arrests came from intelligence-led raids carried out with other security agencies and local community support.
That means the original claim needs a small correction. The verified reports do not show police describing all 75 as “armed bandits” in the narrow northern-Nigeria sense. Rather, the command said the 75 suspects were arrested for a mix of violent and serious offences, including kidnapping and alleged terrorism activity associated with IPOB/ESN.
According to the police account, the command recovered three AK-47 rifles, three magazines, 65 rounds of live ammunition, two locally made pistols, one Beretta pistol and six stolen motorcycles during the operations. Those recoveries were presented as part of a month-long offensive against criminal hideouts and armed cells across the state.
One of the central incidents highlighted by Bosso was an attack on the Adapalm facility in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area on March 3. Police said operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit responded to a distress call reporting that armed men suspected to be IPOB/ESN members had invaded the facility and set heavy machinery on fire. During the first confrontation, one suspect was shot, later died in hospital and was deposited in a mortuary for autopsy and investigation.
Police said the case did not end there. On March 14, while security personnel were conducting surveillance in the same area, the suspects allegedly resurfaced and engaged operatives in another gun battle. The police said the attackers fled with gunshot injuries and abandoned three AK-47 rifles and magazines loaded with 65 rounds of ammunition. That appears to be the single biggest weapons recovery specifically tied to the recent Imo operation.
The command also linked the wider crackdown to a separate counter-terrorism operation in Orsu Local Government Area conducted between February and March. According to the police version, operatives working with the military and other agencies overran a camp known as “Mother Valley,” described as an IPOB/ESN base. Police said two suspects were killed during the raid, while others escaped with injuries. They also reported recovering more than 300 improvised explosive devices concealed in gas cylinders and pipes, along with five exotic vehicles.
That “Mother Valley” detail is one of the most consequential parts of the story because it suggests the operation went beyond routine street-level arrests and extended into a rural insurgent or militant logistics site. However, that part of the account currently rests on the police briefing reflected in available reporting, and I did not find an independent forensic or court record yet publicly confirming the full scale of the IED recovery.
The broader significance is that the Imo command is presenting this as evidence that the state’s crime wave has reduced under sustained joint operations. Bosso said the police had intensified proactive and intelligence-driven policing in collaboration with other security agencies and community stakeholders, and argued that this had improved safety for residents and visitors. That is the police position, though the long-term effect of the crackdown will depend on prosecutions, follow-up arrests and whether these networks regroup.
The pattern of reporting around Imo in recent weeks supports the picture of an active anti-crime campaign, though not all of it points to one single mass arrest event. Earlier reports from March 12 showed the command separately announcing the arrest of two suspected armed robbers and the recovery of a pistol and live ammunition. That suggests the 75 figure is likely an aggregate total from multiple operations over a defined period, not one isolated raid.
Stone Reporters note that the key verified facts are these: the Imo police command publicly said it arrested 75 suspects in a month-long crackdown, recovered rifles, pistols, ammunition and stolen motorcycles, repelled armed attackers in Ohaji/Egbema, and overran what it described as an IPOB/ESN camp in Orsu. What remains less clear from the currently accessible public record is how many of the 75 have already been formally charged, how many were arrested for each category of offence, and how much of the police account has been independently tested in court.
📩 Stone Reporters News | 🌍 stonereportersnews.com
✉️ info@stonereportersnews.com | 📘 Facebook: Stone Reporters | 🐦 X (Twitter): @StoneReportNew | 📸 Instagram: @stonereportersnews
Add comment
Comments