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Yesterday in Aba , eight members of the the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, were allegedly shot dead by the military during their peaceful protest over the continued detention of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, according to the spokesman of IPOB, Emma Powerful .
Speaking on the situation, MASSOB National Welfare Officer, Jude Chukwu, said the protest was peaceful until soldiers and policemen came and started shooting and using tear gas. He added that over 30 members of pro-Biafra protesters sustained bullet wounds and are being treated in various hospitals.
According to him:
“The protest was peaceful until soldiers and policemen started shooting. As I’m talking to you, eight of our members have been shot dead. They should stop killing our members.. We are only protesting for the release of our detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
Speaking to Vanguard, the Delta State Coordinator of IPOB, Jonah Chukwuma, called on the Federal Government to immediately release Kanu and grant freedom to the Biafra people.
His words: “We are protesting for the release of our director, our leader, Nnamdi Kanu, that the ‘zoo’ people are still holding. Let them release him now . Secondly, let them grant us our freedom because we cannot be slaves forever.
“We are tired of staying in this country called Nigeria; we want our own country, which is Biafra, that is what we are agitating for. We are peaceful people, we are non-violent. As you can see, our rally is a peaceful one. We are protesting so that the whole world will hear our voice.”
On why they were protesting in Asaba, Chukwuma said:
“We are protesting in Asaba because Asaba is part of the Biafra land. We have about 25 states that make up Biafra and as I speak to you now, the protest is going on in these states, including Abuja.”
When contacted, Abia State Police spokesman, DSP Ezekiel Onyeke, who disclosed that the Commissioner of Police, Habila Joshak, had been in Aba monitoring the situation, told Vanguard that 23 men and three women were arrested during the protest and urged parents to warn their children against criminal activities.
Onyeke, however, said he was not aware that anybody was shot dead during the protest, adding that security agents even heard gunshots from the protesters.