FACT CHECK: Did IPOB/ESN shoot down military jet in Orlu?

Emerging media report has alleged that the Eastern Security Network (ESN), a security outfit floated by the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People Of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu on the 18th of February shoot down a military jet which was on surveillance mission designed to fish out and neutralise personnel of the security outfit.

The Nigerian military had invaded Orlu Local Government Area on the early hours of Thursday last week after intelligence reports revealed that the outlawed organization established a training camp at Umutanze in Orlu and Udah in Orsu LGA, a boundary between Imo and Anambra States.

Following the outcry that greeted the invasion of Orlu by heavily armed security forces, Hope Uzodinma, the executive Governor of Imo State in a press briefing said the soldiers were invited to Orlu in order to restore calm in the area after members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), killed several policemen and innocent citizens in the area.

According to the Governor, the government discovered that there were deliberate attempts by IPOB to attack Orlu people and the government in the guise that they were searching for Fulani herdsmen.

The attacks on police stations and killing of policemen during #Endsars were carried out by IPOB and not protesting youths for the sole aim of hijacking and stealing weapons.

The governor further said the rampaging outlawed organization killed 10 policemen, a prominent Orlu son, Ignatius Obiezu and one Emmanuel Okeke (Soludo) collected their Hilux vehicles. IPOB also shot and killed four Moslems doing their normal business in Orlu.

Finding:

An Investigation by ElombahNews team of investigative experts with two way verification technique which includes speaking to independent sources in the military and undercover findings reveal that the Eastern Security Network did not gun down any military jet fighter.

The picture which was shared online by the outlawed organization and its members was a picture of a Nigerian Airforce jet which crashed in 2018 during an independence day rehearsal in Abuja. So, it was lifted by the proscribed group and manipulated in their usual manner for propaganda and deceit.