LAGOS NOVEMBER 21st (URHOBOTODAY)- The Nigerian Army has conducted a raid on the hideouts of alleged members of the Liberation Movement of Urhobo People, a Niger-Delta-based militant group headed by notorious kingpin, Kelvin Oniarah.
The latest campaign against LIMUP, a militant group that has gained widespread notoriety for its ruthless kidnap operations across the Niger-Delta, is amongst series of raids operatives have carried out in recent weeks to properly fortify the troubled region.
The raid, military sources said, occurred in Kokori, an oil-rich settlement in Ethiope-East Local Government Area of Delta State.
The operatives, who were alerted by a whistleblower, reportedly engaged in a night-long gun duel with the militants before recovering their illegal arms, army sources said.
Details of casualties suffered by either party are still muddled. But unconfirmed reports said the army arrested three suspects at the scene all of which are currently undergoing intense interrogation.
Acting on a tip-off, the soldiers reportedly made the recovery after the gunfight in one of the kidnap kingpin’s men’s hideouts, an uncompleted building in Kokori. Three suspects, including a classmate of Kelvin, were said to have been arrested and are undergoing interrogation in connection with the arms.
In a related development, some suspected LIMUP members, on Tuesday, abducted a Kokori leader, identified as Chief Fred Enufo, and took him to their den at the outskirts of the town, where they gave the entire Kokori chiefs terms on repossession of a rifle lost by the group.
Spokesperson for the Joint Task Force, Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu, told Sunday Vanguard, on Thursday, on phone, that one AK 47 rifle, three magazines and 86 rounds of 7.62 mm special were recovered after the shootout.
He said following a tip-off that some kidnappers and other hoodlums were converging at an uncompleted building in Kokori, soldiers went to the place to find out but were confronted by the hoodlums, who opened fire.
Nwachukwu confirmed that the soldiers returned fire, overpowered and arrested three of them, adding, “During interrogation, the suspects confessed to being in the Kelvin gang and one of them said he was a classmate to Kelvin. We are still investigating.”
The chief, kidnapped and later released by the gang, was accused of leading the Kokori Council of Chiefs on a self-seeking mission to Warri to apologize to the Ovie of Agbon kingdom, HRM Ogurimerime , Ukori I, over his plight. [Vanguard]