Troops of 34 Artillery Brigade, Nigerian Army, say they have neutralised two gunmen, recovered their weapons and arrested four others in Imo.

This is contained in a release signed by the Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, and made available to journalists in Owerri on Tuesday.

Mr Nwachukwu said the gunmen, suspected to be members of the proscribed Indigenious People of Biafra (IPOB), were neutralised by the troops in a fierce gun battle on Orlu–Orsu Road on Monday.

According to him, the troops, while on routine patrol, made contact with suspected elements of the IPOB around the general area of Aluminium Company and All Saints Church, along the Orlu-Orsu road.

He said that on sighting the patrol team, the gunmen opened fire and launched grenade attack on the troops.

Mr Nwachukwu said the vigilant troops responded with superior firepower,  neutralising two of the gunmen and compelling others to flee in disarray.

“In a hot pursuit that followed the encounter, troops arrested four of the fleeing gunmen and recovered one AK 47 rifle, two magazines, one Police grenade  launcher, two Baofeng communication radios and five mobile phones.

“The troops also recovered one IPOB beret, two motorcycles, four SIM cards, five wallets containing different Identity cards, charms and the sum of N16,460.

“Preliminary investigation on the suspects’ mobile phones reveals gory pictures and videos depicting scenes of cold-blooded murders, corpses displayed in shrines and other heinous atrocities committed by the criminals,” he said.

(NAN)