The Joint Task Force South East Operation UDO KA has reclaimed the Orsu LGA of Imo from bandits and urged the indigenes to return home.
The garrison commander, 34 Artillery Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Obinze, Owerri, Jude Abuo, said this while addressing journalists during a media tour of the recovered communities in Orsu, Imo, on Tuesday.
Mr Abuo said that the JTF, comprising officers of the Nigerian Army, Air Force, Deep Blue, police and NSCDC, had carried out the operation since February 2, with support from the community vigilante.
He said that the operation was in line with the chief of army staff’s command philosophy to advance the transformation of the Nigerian Army into an adaptable, professional, combat-ready and resilient force capable of decisively discharging its constitutional roles within a joint operation and a multi-operational environment.
He added that the LGA was being cleared of elements of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra and its armed wing.
“We have been able to push them out of this place, gain more ground, and detonate improvised explosive devices, which they used as force multipliers. We have captured the mother valley, as you can see, and we have not lost any man on this operation.
“We can assure you that this local government will be free from the IPOB in days to come, and we call on indigenes to return to their homes without fear,” he said.
He further said that the purpose of the media tour was to debunk allegations that images previously released from the operation were manipulated or falsely presented as originating from Oyo and Lagos.
He described the images as “authentic and taken from the ongoing operations”.
Speaking, the president-general of the Orsu Ihietukwa clan, Chika Obuladike, thanked the Nigerian military for its intervention and urged it to extend the operation to other volatile areas.
Also, the youth leader of Orsu Ihietukwa, Ezeani Ikedinekpere, pledged continued collaboration with the military to ensure their operational success.
(NAN)