Eight IPOB militants killed in gun battle with troops in Imo [Photo]

Eight militants of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) were on Thursday killed by the Nigerian troops while attempting to attack a Police station in Imo.

Source said on Friday that the militants were on their way to Orlu in stolen vehicles to attack Police stations, saying that they opened fire upon sighting the troops.

The further hinted that Nigerian troops have intelligence reports of how the secessionists planned to attacks police stations and government infrastructure in Imo.

The group were said to have been involved in series of attacks on Police stations previously, according to reports.

The source added after their communication were intercepted, the troops stage the ambush in confronting them before accomplishing their mission.

“The gunmen, who believed in the power of their charms, were overpowered when the troops including soldiers, policemen and other security operatives engaged them in a battle.

“While some of them were killed, others escaped with grievous injury from the exchange of gunfire. We also recovered all the stolen vehicles they used for their operations.

“In the last one month, the gunmen have attacked several police stations and killed dozens of security personnel for no reason. We are able to identify them as members of IPOB from their ID cards and other incriminating items recovered from them.

“Some of them were involved in previous coordinated attacks using machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades when they targeted a prison and police facilities and freed the inmates were while carting away arms and ammunition in the process,” a senior intelligence officer narrated.

The corpses of the IPOB members, recovered vehicles and sophisticated weapons were taken to the Police Command in Owerri, the state capital.