Breaking news: The nigerian Army troops are already withrawing from Abia (lately), after her recent "bloody"clash with the Biafran agitators, following an emergency order.

...fret and tension  have been a streaming flux in Abia State, following the bloody clash be­tween the Nigerian  military troops and  the Biafra agitators...lately, this face-off is coming to an end today.This is because the Nige­rian Army is set to begin the withdrawal of troops whose presence had sparked off a chain of reactions and tragic consequences.Following moves between the Federal and state authori­ties to restore calm to the state, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu an­nounced that the Army will today begin the gradual with­drawal of troops from the state.Ikpeazu also said that he would meet with President Muhammadu Buhari over the possibility of relaxing the ongo­ ing Operation Python Dance II in the state.He told journalists yester­day in Umuahia that the soldiers’ withdrawal from the streets of Aba and Umuahia will begin today.The governor, who expressed concern over the frenzied security situation in the state, warned mis­creants against actions capable of worsening the situation.Ikpeazu said that the securi­ty situation in the past few days, which led to the deployment of soldiers in the state ahead of the “Operation Python Dance II”, had become of great concern to both the government and the citizenry.He said: “After several inter­ventions, I want to inform you that by tomorrow (today) morn­ing, there will be withdrawal of soldiers from the streets at Aba and Umuahia, apart from the pre-existing military checkpoints at various locations in the state.“With the expected exit of soldiers from the streets, we must warn that we will not tolerate ag­itators and protesters taking over the streets for any reason at all.“I will also be meeting the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Presi­dent Muhammadu Buhari, to dis­cuss possible ways of relaxing the ‘Operation Python Dance II’ in the state for now.“Our attention has been drawn to ugly attacks on police stations and military posts at Aba and Umuahia and we hereby warn that we will no longer tolerate that, and all other acts that are capable of causing insecurity in the state.“We have also observed illegal acts of throwing petrol bombs and setting up of bonfires to obstruct free movements along some roads by suspected miscreants and wish to warn that such acts should stop forthwith.“To mischief-makers who want to use Abia as their base, let me announce to you that hence­forth, Abia will be too hot for you to carry out your wicked acts as the government will work with security agents to ensure the pro­tection of life and property in the state without fear or favour. There will be no hiding place for you,” he said.Also, yesterday, Col. Sagir Musa of the 82 Division Nigeria Army, said the military was in­vestigating a video to establish its source and authenticity of the al­leged torture of civilians by troops.Musa, in a press statement, said the trending video could be pre-recorded by IPOB members as a propaganda machinery to tar­nish the image of the Army. He said that the army would respect the rules of engagement.Tension has continued to build across the state as a result of the ugly developments.Some irate residents were said to have burnt down the Ariaria Police Station.The state command Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Geoffrey Ogbonna, confirmed the incident.Meanwhile, the relative peace which returned to Abia State on Thursday morning was shattered when soldiers report­edly invaded the home of the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnam­di Kanu.Four people were allegedly killed during the incident which occurred at 6.30pm.A family source confirmed last night that soldiers, who have surrounded Kanu’s home since Tuesday, finally broke into the compound at Afaraukwu, Umua­hia.It was gathered that scores of IPOB members who formed human shield around the home were wounded while about 15 others were whisked away by the soldiers.The whereabouts of Kanu could not be established at the time of filing this report last night.One of Kanu’s siblings, popu­larly known as Fineboy, told The AUTHORITY that their father’s throne was desecrated by the troops who ransacked the palace and carted away his plaques.He said: “They broke into the palace after heavy shoot­ing and turned the throne up­side down. They killed four peo­ple and wounded so many others before arresting 15 persons. You can come and take pictures of how they scattered the whole pal­ace,” he said.Kanu’s whereabouts was still unclear as Fineboy could not con­firm whether or not the IPOB leader was among those taken away by the invading soldiers.When contacted, the Army Spokesperson, 14 Brigade Oha­fia, Major Gbadamosi Oyegoke, said that he was not in a position to comment on the incident and asked newsmen to direct their inquiries to dedicated lines of “Operation Python Dance 11.”All the calls put to the dedi­cated numbers failed.Similarly, the Deputy Di­rector, Army Public Relations, 82 Division Enugu, Col. Sagir Musa, did not pick calls put to his cell phone.As the shooting raged, res­idents of the area fled the scene. One of the residents said that he had fled with his family to his vil­lage at Isuikwuato.Earlier in the day, two per­sons believed to be IPOB mem­bers were reportedly shot dead by suspected solders.The incident occurred around 9:30am near the Zenith Bank Plc branch opposite the Government House, Umuahia.A customer at the bank’s Au­tomated Teller Machine (ATM) was hit by bullets and rushed to the Emergency Unit of the Feder­al Medical Centre (FMC), Umua­hia.An eyewitness claimed that gun-toting soldiers, on sighting the two IPOB members dressed in black attires and trekking down the Bank Road towards their lead­er’s house, opened fire on them.As soon as they fell, the sol­ders carried away their corps­es into their waiting van and zoomed off, he said.At the scene, a black cap be­longing to one of the victims was seen on the ground.The situation forced banks along the area to quickly close shop as people scampered for safety.Similarly, business owners in the state capital immediately shut down for the day while residents rushed back to their homes. The roads and major streets were de­serted shortly.Court remands 32 IPOB members in prison custodyAlso, yesterday, a Chief Mag­istrate Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, remanded in pris­on custody 32 members of IPOB who were arrested by the Police during Tuesday’s violent attack in Oyigbo Local Government Area.Nine of the accused persons were arrested for alleged killing a Police Sergeant, Steven Daniel, on Wednesday morning.The accused were charged with treason, murder, armed robbery, felony, unlawful assem­bly, unlawful protest and oth­er sundry crimes in suit num­bers PMC/1936C/2017 and PMC/1935C/2017.The charges were not read to the accused persons and pleas were also not taken when the matter came up because the court lacked jurisdiction to en­tertain the case.The counsel to the accused asked the court to return the case file to the Chief Judge of the State High Court to assign the matter to the appropriate court.In his ruling, the Presiding Chief Magistrate, Amadi O. Amadi-Nna, declined jurisdic­tion on the matter and ordered the court registrar to remit the case file to the Director of Pub­lic Prosecution for legal advice and  adjourned the case...