Army commanders say troops only fired at Biafran protesters in Onitsha in self defence

MILITARY commanders have dismissed reports that their troops opened fire on innocent protesters in Onitsha over the weekend claiming that soldiers only shot back in self defence after being attacked by pro-Biafra protesters.

 

On Monday, about 30 people were reportedly killed in Onitsha when separatist protesters clashed with security forces during a march to celebrate Biafra Day marking the 49th anniversary of the declaration of the defunct republic.  It was on May 30, 1967, that the former governor of the old Eastern Region Lt Col Odumegwu Ojukwu declared Biafra a sovereign state, sparking off the Nigerian civil war.

 

Widely condemned by civil; rights groups, the attack by the army has been described as a massacre of innocent and unarmed civilians. However, the Nigerian Army has hit back at its critics, saying some members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (Massob), were shot because security forces acted in self-defence when their intervention to restore law and order was resisted by the agitators.

 

Col Hamza Gambo, the deputy director of army public relations at the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army in Enugu, said the incident that led to the drafting of soldiers to quell the violent protests left about five members of Ipob and Massob dead. He added that several others were injured on both sides.

 

“Instructively, troops of the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army as the lead agency of the security agencies had to invoke the extant Rules of Engagement to resort to self-defence, the protection of the strategic Niger Bridge, prevent re-enforcement of the pro Biafran members apparently surging ahead from the far side of the strategic Niger Bridge at Onitsha. In the aftermath of the fire fight that ensued, many of our troops sustained varying degree of injuries.

 

"The injured troops are currently receiving treatment at our medical centre. Similarly, five members of Massob/Ipob were killed, eight wounded while nine were arrested for due legal actions,” Col Gambo added.

However, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria said the killings could not be justified no matter the provocation. Also in an apparent show of concern, a delegation of Igbo leaders met with President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday at the presidential villa in Abuja.

 

Former senate president Ken Nnamani, led the delegation to Abuja under the aegis of the Southeast Group for Change. It included former Senators Ifeanyi Ararume and Osita Izunaso as well as former House of Representatives member Sharon Ikeazor, former vice chairman of the Nigeria Communications Commission Ernest Ndukwe, Hon Emma Eneukwu, Chief Austin Edeze, Dr Uzoma Obiyo and Chris Akomas.