Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu
In Port Harcourt, the protesters had gathered at Ikokwu Junction along Ikwerre Road, an area thickly populated by Igbo traders and mechanics, as early as 8a.m., from where they moved in a motorcade to other parts of the Port Harcourt metropolis, chanting protest songs and demanding the recognition of the Republic of Biafra.
Business houses, especially commercial banks as well as traders and spare parts dealers along Ikwerre Road, Olu Obasanjo Road and WaterLine Junction along Aba Road, hurriedly closed their offices and shops to prevent looting.
The protesters, who tore Nigerian flags hoisted on public buildings, moved from Ikokwu to Rumuola, passing through Aba Road, took their protest to Lagos Bus Stop, passing through the Government House area before returning to Ikwerre Road and ended up at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST) Roundabout.
At Ikwerre Road, the rank of the protesters swelled as many youths on foot joined the protesters, singing and dancing to anti-Nigerian songs.
The protesters, who said they were operating under the aegis of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), said the protest was being carried out simultaneously in all Igbo-speaking states across the country, and by people who believed in the Biafran cause.
They hung the Biafran flag and carried placards with various inscriptions, such as ‘On Biafra we stand;’ ‘Biafra or we die;’ ‘Biafra is freedom;’ “Freedom now or never;’ and “The zoo must fall,’ among others.
While the protests remained largely peaceful, the protesters were waving the Biafran flag and chanting anti-Nigeria and anti-Buhari slogans.
One of the protesters, Harrison Onyema, who said he came from Pipeline Rumuokwurusi, told THISDAY that the protest was against the alleged persistent and continued marginalisation of the Igbos in Nigeria.
He said: “This is a genuine and sincere protest by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). We are protesting because the so-called President of the Zoo Republic kidnapped the director of Radio Biafra.
“Today (Tuesday), the IPOB are asking for the release of Kanu. We are asking for his freedom or this zoo must fall.”
When reminded that the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) had denied any link with the operator of the Radio Biafra, another protester, Ogbonnaya Ugochukwu, simply said the issue at hand was not about MASSOB, but about the Biafran Republic.
“This protest is not for MASSOB or any individual but about the interest of the Ndigbo in general. We want freedom; we don’t want money. We have reached out to the United Nations and several other international bodies. They are all aware of what we are doing today.
“What we are doing here in Port Harcourt is being replicated simultaneously in the whole of the Biafran states. All we are saying is that they should give us Biafra. There is no alternative to our freedom,” he said.
Though the protest was peaceful, there was tight security at the Government House were two armoured personnel carriers (APCs) were mounted and with heavy presence of security agents to prevent breakdown of law and order.
While there was no form of arrest or harassment as the protest lasted, the protesters were however later dispersed at the RUST Junction by policemen who shot canisters of tear gas into their midst.
The Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ahmad Muhammad (DSP), told THISDAY that police presence was basically to prevent any ugly circumstances that could arise from the protests.
“The police were there to ensure that the protest does not go haywire or escalate into violence,” he said.
In Awka, the protesters, comprising mainly women, had begun their march from the Amawbia end of the popular Zik Avenue in the town carrying placards with varying inscriptions but were dispersed by the police who shot into the air to scare them.
Undeterred however, the protesters regrouped and took the Onitsha-Enugu expressway with the aim of marching to the Government House in Awka.
But on getting to the Aroma junction, scores of them were picked up by the police and detained.
But on getting to the Aroma junction, scores of them were picked up by the police and detained.
The state Co-coordinator of IPOB, Mr. Ikechukwu Okoye, told journalists that they were not out to foment trouble but simple asking for the unconditional release of their leader, Kanu.
He said they were marching to the Government House to ask the state Governor, Chief Willie Obiano, to prevail on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene on the matter as they were only agitators for freedom in a democracy.
“We are only freedom agitators who obey the laws of the land. This is democracy and there is freedom of speech, freedom of movement and other rights.
“Why would anybody detain over leader and in the process be demanding a bail term of N2 million. We have not come to fight anybody because we are peace makers,” he said.
But the Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hosea Karma, who confirmed the arrest of scores of the protesters said they were parading along the Enugu-Onitsha expressway and disturbing the relative peace in the state.
“There is nothing like Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Those people constituted nuisance on the highway and they were picked.
“Right now, I do not know the number of them that were picked; but I want to assure you that anybody who wants to disturb the peace that exists here will not go unpunished.”
Meanwhile, the state Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has dissociated himself and the state government from the protest, saying it was motivated by opposition politicians in the state with the failed aim of creating unnecessary political tension.
Wike in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Simeon Nwakaudu, said the state is one of the federating units of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and not part of any separatist movement.
He noted that the state government and the people of the state would remain committed to a united, peaceful and prosperous Nigeria.
credit; thisday newspaper
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