Biafra: Banks shut, shots fired, stampede, corpers panic as protesters invade Port Harcourt again
Businesses were crippled, demonstrators were allegedly shot and tear-gassed, as thousands of pro-Biafra agitators stormed Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital, for the second time in 20 days.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), as the protesters call themselves, demand the Nigerian government release their “leader” Nnamdi Kanu who is being held by the state secret service probably for treason.
The protesters also said their demonstration will not end till they are allowed to secede from Nigeria and form their own state of Biafra.
Rivers State police spokesperson Ahmad Muhammad said the protesters came into Port Harcourt from neighbouring Abia State via Aba expressway on Monday night.
Eyewitnesses told Newsroom the agitators were spotted on Aba Road as early as 6:30 a.m.
The protest was peaceful until they came up against a police blockade comprising at least 200 armed security officers drawn from the Nigerian Army, the police force, and other security units.
Pandemonium ensued as both parties “clashed” at Artillery Junction on Aba Road. The security men fired live bullets and teargas at the protesters, many of the agitators alleged.
At least two people were reported to have been hit by police bullets, they claimed. Other reports say three people were shot dead. These were debunked by the police.
The police said whatever injury anyone sustained was due to the stampede that ensued when the protesters came up against the security blockade.
But protesters insisted the stampede started after police opened fire on the agitators.
“I can confirm to you that no life was lost,” Muhammad told Newsroom hours after the crowd dispersed on Tuesday evening.
While the protest lasted, residents said they saw Biafra agitators hurl stones at banks forcing them to temporarily shut down.
The protesters also allegedly took down Nigerian flags mounted on poles in front of banks. They reportedly did the same thing when they protested in Port Harcourt on October 20.
“They burned the flags,” a Port Harcourt resident who does not want to be identified told Newsroom.
“I know three banks in Rumuokoro area shut their doors while the protest was going on,” she said.
The protesters attempted marching to the State Government’s house but were barred by armed security personnel. Rivers State governor Nyesome Wike later denounced the movement and banned all “unauthorised protests.”
In far away Minna, Niger State, fresh graduates undergoing the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme called Newsroom to express fears they could be attacked.
“We heard the protesters attacked Hausas, and are afraid for our lives here,” one of them said.
“My mother just called from Port Harcourt and told us to be very careful,” she said.
Pro-Biafra agitators had warned before now “no living thing will remain in Nigeria” if they are not granted independence by December, 2015.
Kanu, their “leader,” ran into trouble with the Nigerian government after using his propaganda-laden Biafra Radio to call for “peaceful secession or war in this zoo called Nigeria.”
He allegedly disseminated hate messages from the UK-based radio station and was arrested after entering Nigeria to “lead from the front.”
Although a Nigerian court granted Kanu bail, and the conditions of such have been met; the President Muhammadu Buhari led government has refused to release Kanu.
Legal experts say Kanu’s detention is not necessarily unconstitutional as the government could indefinitely detain anyone being investigated for treason.
A viral online video appeared to show Kanu soliciting for funds for “guns and bullets” at 2015 conference of Igbo people.
The Nigerian government could capitalise on that to hold Kanu for as long as it wants, legal and security experts say.
Activists, however, urge the government to tow the path of caution and dialogue with pro-Biafra agitators before things get messier.
They say the agitation was expected as Nigeria has failed to live up to the expectation of her people with Igbos (Biafra agitators are predominantly Igbos) feeling particularly marginalised.
