We Caught IPOB Members Eating Human Flesh — DSS

The Federal High Court in Abuja was informed yesterday that individuals belonging to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its militant branch, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), were once discovered consuming human flesh.

A representative of the Department of State Services (DSS) testified that the group’s operations resulted in the deaths of over 170 security personnel in the Southeast.

He recounted that during a DSS operation at an ESN camp, agents encountered individuals partaking in cannibalism.

“We saw some ESN members, about seven, with human heads and some eating human flesh, which they said was for spiritual fortification,” the witness recounted.

Led in evidence by prosecution counsel Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), the DSS operative testified in the terrorism trial of IPOB leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

He further stated that the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) never issued a license to Kanu for importing the radio transmitter allegedly smuggled in to run Radio Biafra.

The fourth prosecution witness provided details on the May 30, 2021, killing of former presidential aide Ahmed Gulak in Owerri, the capital of Imo State.

According to the witness, an NBC engineer confirmed that the German-manufactured transmitter required official authorization for procurement and installation, which was never granted.

“There was no application from the defendant. He brought in the transmitter illegally without approval,” the witness stated, adding that IPOB supporters pooled funds to acquire the equipment.

He revealed that an ESN operative identified as Uzuoma Benjamin, also known as Onye Army, confessed to receiving instructions from Kanu to kill security operatives and ensure that a deceased ESN commander, Ikonso, was buried with 2,000 human heads.

The witness also referenced a claim by Onye Army, where he stated that he and fellow members used the heads of 10 girls to produce charms intended for protection.

The investigation reportedly uncovered that the attack on Owerri prison by IPOB members was incited by a broadcast from Kanu, in which he urged his followers to target and eliminate security personnel.

According to the DSS agent, further findings showed that Kanu instructed in his broadcast that Ikonso be interred with 2,000 heads, but only 30 were ultimately acquired.

When DSS requested access to Onye Army, the police allegedly responded that he had escaped custody.

“We could not find Onye Army. The police said he had escaped from custody,” the witness said.

He noted that security personnel fatalities in the region ranged from 170 to 200…

Among those killed were two DSS operatives, including his driver, and the losses spanned multiple security forces.

The operative described ESN members as armed militants who target residences of influential individuals and traditional rulers in the region.

Due to inadequate equipment, they would sometimes mount illegal roadblocks to seize vehicles for their missions.

He cited public infrastructure destroyed by IPOB and ESN members in the Southeast, including police stations.

Regarding Gulak’s death, the witness said he was among the earliest responders at the scene where the late PDP figure was killed and his body recovered.

He recalled that May 30, 2021, saw a complete breakdown of order due to a stay-at-home order announced by Kanu in one of his broadcasts.

Later that day, he was alerted by a colleague that a high-profile political figure had been killed in the Obiagwu area.

He recounted that the local Divisional Police Officer (DPO) reported that Gulak, who was in a hired vehicle, was killed by IPOB operatives.

According to the driver, they had been en route to the airport from Owerri when they encountered an Air Force checkpoint restricting access and diverted through an alternate road, where they met an IPOB checkpoint.

The driver reportedly told the DSS official that the IPOB men ordered all three passengers out of the vehicle and asked them to identify their ethnic backgrounds.

The driver claimed he identified himself as Igbo and said Gulak did the same.

However, when asked to speak Igbo, the driver complied, but Gulak could not. The assailants then asked him to remove his cap and noticed a Muslim prayer mark on his forehead.

Upon seeing this, one of the attackers allegedly said: “He is one of them,” after which Gulak was shot and killed.

The witness, who served in Imo State from 2019 to 2023, said he transported the body in his own vehicle.

During cross-examination by defence counsel Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), the witness said there was no documentation regarding the transmitter’s importation.

He stated that although he couldn’t pinpoint when it entered Nigeria, he was part of the team that tracked it to a location in Anambra State and transferred it to DSS headquarters in Abuja.

They reportedly used tools to analyse a video showing Kanu examining the transmitter, which helped identify its Anambra location.

He said he didn’t encounter the names Benka Clearing and Forwarding or Chief Isaac Maduka during the investigation.

He also stated he wasn’t aware of Benka’s involvement in clearing the transmitter, as Ikpeazu suggested.

When asked if he knew that Radio Biafra was registered and operated out of London, the witness said Kanu was arrested in Lagos in 2016 with his broadcast devices.

He confirmed he wasn’t personally present at the arrest and was only relaying information provided to him.

He clarified that the two guns mentioned in his earlier testimony were not found in the transmitter container, but rather under a mattress belonging to Benjamin Madubugu, who resided at the location.

Madubugu was later charged with unlawful firearms possession.

The container had been imported by Igwe Anyiba, who was subsequently discovered to be residing abroad.

The witness said he had no knowledge of the Imo State Government’s position that Gulak’s killing was politically motivated.

Following the cross-examination, the witness was discharged and Justice James Omotosho postponed the case to Thursday for the testimony of the fifth prosecution witness.