By VICTOR NWACHUKWU

A joint team of security operatives has raided criminal hideouts and dislodged suspected members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Aku, Okigwe Area Council of Imo State.

The Commander, 34 Artillery Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Obinze, Owerri, Brig. Gen. Usman Lawal, disclosed this while addressing newsmen in Aku, Okigwe on Tuesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the joint team comprises the military, police, DSS and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

Lawal said that the ?clearance operation? which began on Friday, Nov. 29, was carried out following credible intelligence, to clear the area of the menace of suspected members of the IPOB.

?As a result of the operation, peace has started to return to the area, so we urge the people of Aku to cooperate with security operatives by availing them with credible, helpful information,? he said.

He however, said that a notorious IPOB commander, identified as Ifeanyi Okorienta, and his gang had already been displaced, and assured residents of the area that they could come home to celebrate the Yuletide.

Speaking, the Commissioner of Police in Imo, Mr Aboki Danjuma, pledged continued cooperation with all security agencies involved in the operation, for desired results.

Also, Gen. Joseph Chima (Rtd), the Special Adviser on Security Matters to the Imo Governor, Sen. Hope Uzodinma, assured Imo people of the government?s commitment to provision of logistics for the activities of security operatives. (NAN)