ALEXIS AKWAGYIRAM POLICE have launched an operation in southeast Nigeria to put a stop to rising violence and crime there, including a spate of attacks on police which have triggered fears of a return to war and state-sanctioned violence. Armed gangs have carried out a series of killings of police officers in the region in recent months and mounted a jailbreak of more than 1,800 prisoners in the city of Owerri in April. Nigerian authorities blame a banned separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and what police call the group's armed wing, the Eastern Security Network. Operation Restore…