A soldier serving with Nigeria’s Operation Udoka has been shot dead by suspected members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) after reportedly leaving his duty post to attend a strippers’ party in Anambra State.
The incident occurred on the evening of Saturday, May 18, 2025, near the Forward Operating Base in Uli, Anambra State.
According to Punch, the soldier, who attended the party dressed in full military camouflage, was discovered missing during a tactical operation.
A security source, who requested anonymity, revealed that the soldier had left the base without authorisation to attend an event called “Ladies’ Jamboree” at a nearby hotel.
“He was later found at the scene, fatally shot by suspected IPOB/ESN operatives,” the source said. “Troops recovered his lifeless body, along with that of a baby, and his weapon has been secured by the military.”
Operation Udoka is a defence headquarters-led security initiative focused on tackling unrest in the region.
Attempts to reach the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Markus Kangye, were unsuccessful as his phone remained switched off and messages sent to him had not been answered at the time of filing this report.
This latest killing adds to the growing list of targeted attacks on security operatives in Nigeria’s South-East, where IPOB and its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), have been blamed for ongoing violence against state forces.
