The Nigerian Army and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) are at loggerheads over recoveries made during a recent operation at communities in Imo State.

While IPOB accused the army of manipulating the images it posted to the public, the Nigerian Army, on the other hand, blamed IPOB for sowing the seeds of discord and manipulating the metadata of the images released.

The Nigerian Army has therefore invited the media and Civil Society Organisations to a verification tour of Orsu-Eketutu Mother Valley and Orsu-Ihiteukwa in Imo State.

The tour is to dispel what the army described as “propaganda” by IPOB, which alleged that images it published on March 12, 2026, with a media release showing recovered Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) from Orsu -Eketutu Mother Valley and Orsu -Ihiteukwa, in Imo State, were fake and manipulated.

The IPOB had, in a statement signed by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, dismissed the claim, describing it as “fake”.

It accused the army of manipulating the recovery of devices manufactured in other locations, such as Lagos, and attributing them to communities in Imo State.

But the army, through its Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 82 Division, Lieutenant Colonel Olabisi Ayeni, in a statement yesterday, insisted that the devices depicted in the released images were recovered during the ongoing operations Eastern Sanity, conducted simultaneously in Imo and Anambra States.

He added that the geolocation on the pictures was blurred for operational security reasons, not for any ulterior motives, as being propagated by IPOB sympathisers on social media.

Meanwhile, three years after the Lilu-Eketutu Road, in Orsu Local Council Area of Imo State, was shut, following increased insecurity, a joint troop of the Operation Udoka of the Nigerian Army, at the weekend, reopened the road.

It was gathered that residents of the area had either fled or been killed following the occupation of their homes and farmlands by hoodlums.

The army said the operations were conducted in the Orsu–Eketutu Mother Valley and Orsu–Ihiteukwa general areas as part of ongoing efforts to eliminate IEDs planted by criminal elements and facilitated the safe return of residents who were forced to abandon their homes due to the activities of the unknown gunmen and IPOB.

Lieutenant Colonel Ayeni said the troop included personnel of the Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force, Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria Police Force, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

He added that Operation Udoka has continued to sustain aggressive joint clearance operations in parts of Imo State and its environs, as part of the ongoing Eastern Sanity operation, aimed at dismantling criminal enclaves and restoring normalcy to affected communities. (The Guardian)