IPOB: Army not directly involved in Oyibo crises – Spokesman

The Nigerian Army says it is not directly involved in ongoing operation to restore law and order in Oyibo Local Government Area of Rivers.

Col. Aminu Iliyasu, Spokesman of the 6 Division of the Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, said this in an interview with our reporter in Port Harcourt on Thursday.

Iliyasu said the army only assisted the police on Tuesday following violent clash between members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Hausa community.

According to him, troops has since been withdrawn to strategic locations while the police are now fully in control of the situation.

“Some persons are just trying to stir up tension by insinuating that the army was involved in shootout with IPOB members in the early hours of Thursday.

“If any security agency had shootout with anyone; then it is definitely not the army that took part in the shootout.

“This is because the army has since withdrawn troops on Tuesday after normalcy was restored to enable the police to discharge their constitutional mandate.

“However, soldiers are currently on standby in case the situation escalates beyond what the police can handle. It is only in that situation that the army will intervene,” he said.

The spokesman said that no arrest was made by the army during its brief intervention in the clash that ensued between IPOB members and the Hausa community.

He said that relative calm had been restored with social and economic activities returning to the area.