On April 5th, upwards of 1,800 inmates were broken out of prison in southeast Nigeria.
This happened when heavily armed gunmen attacked their prison using explosives and rocket-propelled grenades, the authorities said.
Nigerian police said it believed a banned separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), was behind the attack in the city of Owerri, but a spokesman for the group denied involvement.
An IPOB spokesman told Reuters the group did not carry out the prison raid.
“IPOB and ESN were not involved in the attack in Owerri, Imo state. It is not our mandate to attack security personnel or prison facilities,” the IPOB spokesman said in a phone call.
President Muhammadu Buhari said the attack, in a city near the oil-rich Niger Delta region that is the mainstay of Africa’s top crude exporter and biggest economy, was an “act of terrorism”.
He ordered security forces to apprehend the fleeing prisoners.
The attackers stormed the facility in the late hours of April 5th, according to the Nigerian Correctional Service said.
“The Owerri Custodial Centre in Imo state has been attacked by unknown gunmen and forcefully released a total of 1,844 inmates in custody,” its spokesman said in a statement.
The police said attackers used explosives to blast the administrative block of the prison and entered the prison yard.
“Preliminary investigations have revealed that the attackers… are members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB),” said Frank Mba, a spokesman for the Nigeria Police Force.
Separately, on April 5th, Islamic state in West Africa Province (ISWAP) attacked Nigerian army personnel east of Diffa in N’Gagam, 5 soldiers were killed, 6 SUVs and weapons were captured. Also, a patrol was blown up with a IED – 6 more soldiers were killed and one armored personnel carrier was destroyed.
There are numerous photos and videos of the clashes that can be seen below:
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Peacekeepers in Mali have learned that the Jamaat Nusrat Al-Islyam Wal Muslimine group is behind the attack on the Chadian military garrison. The security officials came to this conclusion after the identification of the terrorists. Among those liquidated was the deputy leader of DNIM, Iyad Ag Gali, named Abdalay Ag Albaka. He was responsible for a number of terrorist attacks against the Malian and French military, as well as military personnel from the MINUSMA peacekeeping contingent.
In total, during the terrorist attack, the Chadian Armed Forces liquidated forty Islamists. According to some reports, thanks to intelligence information, the Chadian peacekeepers knew about the attack and prepared in advance for it.
MORE ON THE TOPIC:
US Special Operations are active again, they need more recruits for the alphabet armies.
ISWAP? The US are taking the piss.
Nigeria needs a civil war.
Christian rebellion to create a new state where Muslims are expelled.
The religious unity will be able to unify the different Christian ethnic groups.
Maybe. The left must be crushed somehow. Then we can take our revolution global and destroy Islam and Communism.
Too bad you yourself are a neo trotskyist… Oy gevalt…
Very kosher comment. Uncle Shlomo would be proud…