Five soldiers of the Nigerian Army were killed and others critically injured after a MRAP (Mine-Resistant, Ambush Protected Vehicle) was involved in an accident while trying to repel an alleged attack by operatives of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) in Anambra State.
Sources said that the convoy of soldiers from the 302 Artillery Regiment, General Support, Onitsha, were on their way to Ihiala to join their colleagues at a military checkpoint after receiving information that ESN operatives were planning to attack it.
Detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, had in December 2020 launched ESN to protect the people of the South-East region from terrorists and bandits allegedly trooping in from the North.
Kanu said then that “the sole aim and objective of this newly formed security outfit known as Eastern Security Network are to halt every criminal activity and the terrorist attack on Biafraland.
“This outfit, which is a vigilante group like the Amotekun in the South-West and the Miyetti Allah security outfit, will ensure the safety of our forests and farmland, which terrorists have converted into slaughter grounds and raping fields.”
First published in SaharaReporters
