Imo Police Arrest Two Suspected Terrorists, Recover AK-47 and Explosives From Agwa Hideout

The Imo State Police Command has arrested two suspected terrorists and dismantled a suspected hideout linked to the foiled attack on the Agwa Police Division in Oguta Local Government Area.

Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Henry Okoye, disclosed this in a statement issued on Thursday, saying the arrests followed investigations into the August 21, 2026 attack on the police division. The operation also followed the neutralisation of a suspected kingpin identified as Chiemela, popularly known as “Disaster”.

According to Okoye, investigators arrested 32-year-old Happiness Uche from Ubah Agwa and 29-year-old Jones Okechukwu Anyim from Umuokijo Mgbala Agwa, both in Oguta LGA. Anyim was arrested on September 15 at about 4:20pm after information and confessions obtained from Uche reportedly led investigators to him.

Police operatives, working with the Divisional Police Officer of Agwa Division, subsequently raided a suspected camp linked by the command to IPOB/ESN at Ubah Agwa. The police said the occupants opened fire when officers arrived but were eventually overpowered and fled into the surrounding area.

“On sighting the police operatives, the hoodlums opened fire but were swiftly overpowered by the superior firepower of the Police, forcing them to flee. Some of the fleeing suspects are believed to have sustained gunshot injuries,” Okoye said.

A search of an abandoned, uncompleted bungalow at the location reportedly produced a significant cache of items. Police said they recovered an AK-47 rifle without a visible identification number, two magazines containing 52 rounds of live ammunition, one hand grenade, four military uniforms and five police uniforms bearing name tags.

The command also said officers recovered six Biafra-regalia uniforms, three ESN-marked uniforms, four ESN-marked berets and three Biafra flags. Other items listed included ATM cards believed to belong to victims, currencies bearing Biafran inscriptions, foreign currencies, photographs of an unidentified person and objects suspected by police to be ritual materials.

Okoye said the suspected hideout had been dislodged and secured, while police operations were continuing to locate the suspects who escaped during the raid. Commissioner of Police Audu Garba Bosso commended the officers involved and urged residents to remain vigilant and provide credible information to security agencies.

The police said the two arrested suspects would be charged to court after the completion of investigations. The command also appealed to residents to cooperate with investigators as efforts continue to determine the full extent of the group’s activities and identify other people allegedly connected to the attack.