Biafra: Residents Flee As IPOB’s ESN Clash With Soldiers In Abia
The Nigerian military clashed with members of the Eastern Security Network (ESN), the militant wing of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), in Ohafia, Abia State, on Saturday.
During the encounter, a soldier from the Nigerian Army’s 14 Brigade was reportedly shot.
The trouble began when ESN attacked the famed Ebem motor park in the state’s Ohafia Local Government Area and began firing indiscriminately.
Soldiers from the Army Headquarters in Ohafia were claimed to have responded to the incident by engaging the alleged ESN members in a gunfight.
The injured soldier was reportedly brought to the Federal Medical Center in Umuahia for treatment.
Residents of Elu, Amangwu, Ebem, and Amaekpu were forced to flee to neighboring villages to prevent being hit by stray gunshots.
“We learned that several youngsters thought to be members of the Eastern Security Network came to the famed Ebem motor park and started firing and then left,” a source told The PUNCH. Soldiers from the 14 Brigade, Ohafia, whose command center is nearby, came and went after them afterwards.
“We learned that unknown attackers fired a double-barrel gun at a soldier, but he was not killed. He is currently receiving medical attention at Federal Medical Center Umuahia, and there have been occasional gunshots from all directions since then.”
