Pro-Biafran activists, security agents in bloody clashes, 30 feared dead, two cops thrown into River Niger

At least Thirty member of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB and a soldier were allegedly killed on yesterday in Onitsha, the Anambra State capital, after some pro-Biafran protesters, said to be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the declaration of the defunct Biafra republic, engaged soldiers and policemen in a bloody clash.

Sources gather that one soldier attached to the Onitsha 302 military regiment was stabbed to death.

Leaders of the protesters did not, however, produce the corpses of those said to have been killed by security operatives, but one of our correspondents saw two corpses in Onitsha on Monday.

The late Biafran leader, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, declared the secession of the Republic of Biafra from Nigeria on May 30, 1966.

IPOB spokesperson, Mr. Emma Powerful, said, 

“They killed about 25 of our armless members at Nkpor without any cause. They just opened fire on us as we were having a peaceful procession.
“As I speak to you, and from the statistics we have on the ground, 22 of our members were also killed in other parts of the state, just like that.”
According to him, two out of the IPOB members that died met their sudden death at the Niger Bridge head.
“They were coming from Asaba, the Delta State capital, with others to join their Anambra counterparts in the celebration. On getting to the bridge, they met a stiff resistance from the JST and it resulted in a bloody clash and consequently a policeman died while a soldier was stabbed,” he added.

A source in the Press Unit of the Government House said the Governor, Mr. Willie Obiano, had “convened an urgent security meeting to seek ways to curb the crisis before it escalates.” We will issue a statement as soon as we get a directive to do so.”

However, Mr. Emmanuel Omenka, the Personal Assistant to the MASSOB leader, Chief Ralph Uwazurike, said, “No amount of killing of Biafra agitators will deter us from fighting to actualise a sovereign state of Biafra.”

The pro-Biafran protesters also took to the street in Port Harcourt, Enugu, Owerri and Calabar.