DSS Accuse IPOB over Mass Graves in Abia

The Department of State Services (DSS) yesterday accused members of the separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of kidnapping and extrajudicial killings after uncovering 55 shallow graves in a forest in Abia State.

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

Read statement signed by DSS spokesperson, Mr. Tony Opuiyo, in Abuja on Saturday below:

“Service has uncovered the heinous role played by members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra 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.”

The DSS spokesperson said IPOB was gradually showing its 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 DSS said it will do everything to arrest the perpetrators of the alleged crime.

A senior operative of the service who claimed to be involved in the operation that led to the discovery of the graves in the forest, told the Punch Newspapers that the forest is now a no-go area.

“The forest has become a security zone. We have taken over the place. It is an offence to see people who have no business in the area for now.

“A Good Samaritan blew the lid on the killings that happened there and how people were hurriedly buried in the forest,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added.

But the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has risen in defence of IPOB and dismissed the allegations by the DSS as lacking merit and evidence.

Meanwhile, the Abia State Government on Saturday denied knowledge of shallow graves in any forest in the state.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Abia State Governor, Mr. Godwin Adindu, told SUNDAY PUNCH that the government would investigate the alleged discovery.

He said, “We don’t have such a report; there is no such report here. The DSS has not given us the report. We don’t have such information. Even within the populace here, nobody has raised such alarm.”

Source – Punch