At least 30 Biafra agitators were murdered by security forces in Enugu and Onitsha onMonday, during the peaceful demonstration in commemoration of the May 30, 1967 declaration of the sovereign state of Biafra by late Dim Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu,allegedly turned bloody yesterday as soldiers and protesters clashed at Nkpor, Anambra State and in the Awka.
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.
This was the Enugu East Zonal leader of a combination of MASSOB and BIM, Comrade Eugene Eze and several others, were whisked away after addressing the press at Edinburgh Roundabout, Ogui Enugu where the protesters gathered in their numbers brandishing Biafran flags and caps.
Adressing reporters, National director of Publicity, Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, Comrade Edeson, alleged that about thirty-seven people were feared killed at Nkpor, Anambra State by armed soldiers.
He urged the Federal Government to let them be because they were peaceful demonstrators exercising their human right of freedom of association and expression.
“My prayer is that the Federal Government of Nigeria should let us be. We are non-violent and I don’t see why they should harass us.
“One thing is certain, no matter the intimidate and threat of death, there is no stopping the Biafra,” the MASSOB spokesman pleaded.
Before Comrade Eze was arrested in Enugu, he urged the federal government to let them be because they were fighting for their right in a peaceful manner.
His words: “we are not afraid because we are a non-violent organisation. We have no weapon. The only defence we have is God and the world.
“We fought a war and the worst is still happening. There is no hope for the Igbo man in Nigeria. Since the end of the Nigeria-Biafran War, nothing has changed,” he said pointing out that they were not fighting specifically for themselves but for their children and their yet to be born children.
Also speaking, another MASSOB chieftain, Onyema Marshall, said that the actualisation of Biafra was not negotiable.
“Today is our Biafra Day. It is an annual event. It is being celebrated on the 30th of every year to show the world that Biafra lives forever and that the actualisation of Biafra is not negotiable,” Marshall said.