FIVE jubilant members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) have been shot dead by the soldiers in Onitsha after celebrations over the release of Radio Biafra director Nnamdi Kanu got out of hand and turned into a confrontation with troops.
On Wednesday, an Abuja Magistrates Court ordered the release of Mr Kanu after the Department of State Services (DSS) decided to drop all three charges it had prepared and levelled against him. As soon as word about the development leaked out, his supporters began celebrating widely across various parts of the southeast.
In Onitsha, the commercial nerve centre of Anambra State, however, things went pear-shaped as Ipob members ended up in a confrontation with soldiers attached to the 302 Artillery Regiment located in the city. After the clash during which the soldiers opened fire on the protesters, five were left dead, while about 25 others sustained varying degrees of injuries.
Apparently, the soldiers erroneously thought the Ipob supporters had trooped out to protest against the detention of Mr Kanu, not knowing that they were celebrating his release. In the ensuing clash at the Onitsha end of the River Niger Bridge, gunfire was exchanged, immediately causing panic among motorists and commuters who scampered for safety as tension pervaded.
Ipob supporters had trooped out in their numbers and converged around the statue of the late Biafran leader, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. They were, singing and jubilating preparatory to a procession but were, however, stopped by policemen and soldiers who were around the area.
Eyewitness Jimmy Okechukwu, revealed that trouble started when the Ipob members were accosted by the soldiers and asked to stop their march towards the bridge. He added that the group defied this order and an argument ensued between the soldiers and the Ipob followers, which later degenerated into violence.
At this point, the soldiers started shooting sporadically to scare the swarming crowd but unfortunately, they shot at five of them who died on the spot with about 25 others wounded. During the shooting, people ran for their lives but some Ipob members who mustered the courage threw pebbles at the soldiers who retaliated by shooting at the defenceless people.
Reacting to the incident, Mike Umezulike, the chairman of the Fundamental Rights League International, said the procession by Ipob members was peaceful and wondered why the soldiers shot at harmless people. In nearby Enugu, business activities were temporarily halted as hundreds of pro-Biafra agitators including Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra and Ipob supporters took to the major streets of the city to celebrate Mr Kanu’s release from custody.
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