Forest where IPOB bury people in shallow graves found in Abia, DSS takes over

The Department of State Services, DSS, has taken over Umuanyi Forest near Aba in Abia State, where it said that about 55 unidentified shallow graves were discovered.

Not less than 55 identified persons were said to have been allegedly buried in the graves by members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB.

The DSS is accusing the members IPOB of engaging in kidnapping and extrajudicial killings.

IPOB is being led by the Director of guerilla Radio Biafra, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, who is being prosecuted by the Federal Government for alleged treasonable felony.

The secret service further accused IPOB members of the kidnapping and killing of five Hausa-Fulani men whose remains it said were buried in the same forest.

But MASSOB, which is another pro-Biafra group, rose in defence of IPOB and dismissed the allegations by the DSS as lacking merit and evidence.

A statement issued by DSS spokesperson, Mr. Tony Opuiyo, read:
“Service has uncovered the heinous role played by members of the IPOB in the abduction/kidnap of five Hausa-Fulani residents, namely Mohammed Gainako, Ibrahim Mohammed, Idris Yakubu, and Isa Mohammed Rago at Isuikwuato LGA in Abia State.

“The abducted men were later discovered at the Umuanyi Forest, Abia State, where they were suspected to have been killed by their abductors and buried in shallow graves, amidst 50 other shallow graves of unidentified persons.

“Arrests and investigation conducted so far revealed that elements within the IPOB carried out this dastardly action.”

With this act, Opuiyo said it is pertinent to alert the general public that IPOB was showing its true divisive colour and objectives, while steadily embarking on gruesome actions in a bid to ignite ethnic terrorism and mistrust amongst non-indigenes in the South-East region and other parts of the country.

Following this act, the DSS alerted that tension was currently rife among communal stakeholders in the state, with possibilities of spillover to other parts of country.

The agency warned that it would not hesitate to act decisively within its statutory mandate to ensure that the sponsors and perpetrators of “this action are apprehended and prosecuted for their crime.”