Yesterday, what was meant to be a peaceful remembrance ceremony for the late Biafran leader, Odumegwu Ojukwu, and his May 30 declaration of 1967, according to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Onitsha, Anambra State, became deadly. The situation turned hostile, costing about 40 people their lives, 50 IPOB members to be arrested, and many others to receive severe injuries in the aftermath of the event.
Onitsha city has been on lockdown, bringing the commercial activities which the city is renowned for, as well as general mobility to a halt. The confrontation and arrests were reported to have started in the very early hours of Monday morning when security personnel in the area became perturbed by the demonstration being carried out by the pro-Biafra group.
The Anambra State government stated that the demonstration was illegal, as the demonstrators failed to obtain the necessary documents to conduct their activities freely. However, IPOB members maintain that they reserve the right to hold a peaceful rally, especially since they were unarmed for the duration of their demonstration.
According to the leader of another popular pro-Biafra group, Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), the killing of unarmed protesters by the Anambra State law enforcement personnel is unjustifiable. He went on to state that the actions of the security personnel could eventually push pro-Biafra protesters to also approach such situations with violence in the future. A move that could have destructive consequences for the country.
However, conflicting accounts of the incidence continue to make the rounds, with the state’s police department claiming that the body count from the clash is actually within the range of zero to seven, in contrast to the numbers presented by the supporters of the Biafra movement.
A violent turn of events similarly occurred early in February when a group of IPOB members gathered in the premises of a secondary school to organise a protest in order to secure the release of their leader, Radio Biafra Director, Nnamdi Kanu. The events that followed saw about 15 individuals lose their lives to the violent reaction from law enforcement agencies in what civil rights organisations characterised as the “killings of defenceless protesters.” Since yesterday, scores of pro-Biafra protesters have either been killed, arrested, or injured in encounters with security personnel in Anambra, Ebonyi, and Imo States in line with the May 30 commemoration.
