Like in other states in the South-east, police facilities in Anambra State have been targets of attacks by gunmen operating in the state.
Security agencies have destroyed several criminal camps of suspected terrorists attacking police facilities in Anambra State, Nigeria’s South-east.
The police spokesperson in the state, Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.
Mr Ikenga, a superintendent of police, said the camps were destroyed last Friday when combined security agencies raided some terrorist camps in a forest located in Ogbaru Local Government Area of the state.
The police spokesperson said Amiyi and Ochuche communities within the council area were “combed” by the combined security team during a search for the suspected terrorists in the state.
He said apart from the destroyed camps, nine improvised explosive devices were recovered from the camps and defused by the police bomb squad during the operation.
Mr Ikenga said the combined security team comprised troops of the Nigerian army, personnel of the Nigerian Navy and the Nigeria Police Force.
“Several camps were found and destroyed during the operation which lasted several hours,” he said.
The Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Aderemi Adeoye, commended the Nigerian military for their steadfastness in supporting the fight against criminality, Mr Ikenga said.
Mr Adeoye equally thanked authorities of the State Security Service (SSS), the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the National Immigration Service (NIS), the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and various vigilante groups across Anambra State for the synergy existing among them which he said was “yielding fantastic results” in the fight against insecurity in the state.
The statement did not specifically mention that the personnel of the SSS, NSCDC, NIS, NDLEA and vigilante groups took part in the joint operation.
Cult war in Anambra
There have been cult-related attacks and killings in Awka, the Anambra State capital, in recent times.
At least eight persons were reported killed in cult-related attacks in the last 10 days in the state capital.
Speaking, Mr Adeoye warned the suspected cultists operating in the state against further terrorising residents of the state capital.
“Their days are numbered,” he said of the cultists.
The police commissioner vowed that security agencies will not fold their hands and watch the cultists “destabilise the state in the name of cult rivalry leading to fatalities.”