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Residents of the Ogbaru community in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State have cried out over what they described as the military invasion of their communities.
They accused the soldiers of killing their innocent youths in the guise of fighting crime and criminality in the area.
The Eastern Updates reports that Ogbaru is one of the communities in Anambra State where a curfew had been imposed over its high crime rate and military personnel has been reportedly dislodging some criminal camps in recent times.
The soldiers have also reportedly invaded several Indigenous People of Biafra/Eastern Security Network camps in the community and killed the dissidents.
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The residents’ lamentation followed alleged killings on Tuesday and Wednesday at Ossomala, Umunankwo and Obeagwa communities by the army.
An elder in the community who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the military personnel had been searching houses and in the process allegedly killed over 100 youths in the community.
He said the community was not against the military fighting criminal elements, but they are worried that scores of innocent lives have been lost in the process.
He said, ‘Troops of the Nigerian military comprising the Navy and the Army have killed dozens of innocent citizens in their productive age bracket in Ogbaru.
‘The deployment of the military personnel in this area began in the evening of Tuesday during which they claimed to be looking for unknown gunmen that recently laid the area under siege.
‘The soldiers turned their guns on the defenceless and unarmed natives and others while abandoning the forests that are the hideouts of the unknown gunmen located inside big river/swamp forest of Obene-Ochuche/Umuzu/Okija divided by Ulasi River.
‘The soldiers were mobilised from Ogbaru Naval Base and Onitsha 302 Artillery Regiment in over 20 trucks with arms and ammunition. They targeted defenceless locals mainly young males and opened fire on them at close range and killed scores. They also wounded and arrested others who are later to be questionably labelled as ‘ESN/IPOB hoodlums.’
Viral videos of the alleged attack which were sighted by The Eastern Updates on Sunday showed abandoned corpses shot on the foreheads, heart regions, stomach, back and reproductive organ region littered in several locations of the community.
The soldiers were also accused of invading several “sacred” places, destroying the places, and displaying sacred symbols while linking their adherents to IPOB and ESN.
