Below are some of the latest Biafra and IPOP news making the headline
Soldiers Forcefully Entered Nnamdi Kanu’s Home, His Whereabouts Unknown – Lawyer
The lawyer to Nnamdi Kanu has alleged that men of the Nigerian Army invaded the home of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra on Thursday afternoon.
In a statement made available to PREMIUM TIMES, the lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, accused the Nigerian Army of declaring war on Mr. Kanu and “innocent, unarmed and defenceless” supporters of IPOB.
“The Military has declared war on the innocent, unarmed and defenceless civilians. Sporadic shooting is going on in the premises of Nnamdi Kanu now.
“The situation is serious. My client’s whereabouts has remained unknown. His entire house has been shattered with bullets and missiles.
“The soldiers had just forcefully gained entrance into his house after shooting for about 40 minutes. His entrance gate was broken and forced open. Their mission is still unknown as every person seen in his house has surrendered, including his aged parents.
“We will avail the world with the pictures of these dastardly acts,” Mr. Ejiofor said.
The lawyer called on supporters of Biafra to remain calm in the face of what he described as “unprovoked killings.”
“In the face of this unprovoked killings, torture, abduction and malicious destruction of property, I still appeal for calm from IPOB members. Just be assured that the entire world is watching. Do not take up arms, continue to conduct yourselves in the most civilized manner you are well known for,” Mr. Ejiofor said.
Mr. Ejiofor has repeatedly accused the Nigerian army of plotting to forcefully take down his client, alleging that several members of the IPOB have already been killed by the soldiers.
On Sunday, the lawyer accused the army of attacking IPOB members, ‘without provocation’ killing several people.
“They had continued to shot sporadically into the air through which assault, about five of his family members were brutally wounded and some unfortunately killed.
“There is no doubt that the present deployment of troops to the South East is to haunt for my client and possibly eliminate him,” the statement said.
There has, however, not been any evidence of deaths, although there have been reported injuries to civilians as well as security personnel.
A video footage forwarded to PREMIUM TIMES by Mr. Ejiofor regarding the said killings, indicated that soldiers driving past the neighbourhood of Mr. Kanu’s residence in Abia State were being pelted with stones by the IPOB members, who appeared to also be armed with sticks, as seen in the footage, shortly before one of the IPOB members was shot in the leg.
Reacting to the allegations, the Nigerian army denied attacking the agitators without provocation, adding that the presence of soldiers in the area was a continuation of a military exercise in the south-eastern region of the country, tagged: Operation Python Dance 2.
In a similar development, the Nigerian army has vowed to investigate another videofootage where some members of IPOB were seen tortured by men alleged to have been military operatives.
In a third video seen Thursday evening by PREMIUM TIMES, unclear sounds are heard while a cameraman goes round Mr. Kanu’s house, describing what he (the camera man) called ‘shootings by soldiers’ at the gate of Mr. Kanu’s residence.
The army is yet to speak on the current development.
However, the police on Thursday confirmed that suspected IPOB members burnt down a police station and assaulted an officer in Aba, the state’s commercial centre.
A dusk to dawn curfew on Aba was extended by the state governor to Friday.
Oodua People’s Congress, OPC, has condemned the militarization of some part of the South-East under Operation Python Dance,
“in the obvious attempt to arrest the growing influence of the Nnamdi Kanu led Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)”.
In a statement issued by the OPC on Thursday, and signed by its Publicity Secretary, Yinka Oguntimehin, the group said the agitation of IPOB could be fruitfully addressed through dialogue rather than the military option being adopted by the Federal government.
The OPC said it did not believe there was any security threat in Umuahia and its environs to warrant the deployment of soldiers to intimidate and molest innocent Nigerians who are going about their lawful business.
According to the Yoruba group, the Federal Government should be careful in handling the IPOB issue, adding that any agitation that has been able to attract international sympathy and support like that of IPOB should be handled with utmost care and high degree of diplomacy.
It stressed that the implication of the Military presence in the East and North East at the same time naturally sends signal of civil war in the country to the international Community, and this will discourage investors, especially now that the country is assumed to have survived recession.
The OPC said history does not favour military suppression of agitating groups, citing the case of Odi where MEND surfaced strongly and serious damage done to the nation’s economy even after the President Olusegun Obasanjo led Federal Government was supposed to have successfully muscled the South South community to silence.
It said oil supply was forced down to 750 barrel per day from its usual 2.5m barrel as a result of MEND activities, adding that profitable oil activities only picked up in the Niger Delta after the Late President Yar’dua led government successfully dialogued with MEND.
Warning against the implication of the military attack on IPOB and Umuahia leading to the killing of many, the OPC said “all efforts must be made to guide jealously the hard earned democracy which individuals and groups fought hard to enthrone”
The OPC said the nation’s democracy is daily being threatened by sundry issues, chief among them injustice, security and the economy, which it said could naturally be resolved without bloodletting if the Federal Government could be sincere enough to take the best possible option of restructuring the country.
Re-iterating its call for the restructuring of the country along regional line, the OPC advised government “to take conscious effort to ensure that the incessant bloodletting in the country is arrested instead of aiding it through unnecessary militarization of the country like is being done in the South East”.
The statement added that the recent happenings in Abia between soldiers and members of the public had underscored the urgency to reconsider the necessity of Operation Python Dance 2.
Biafra: Residents flee Aba, others remain indoors as crisis festers
Following a resurgence of crisis in Aba, Abia, on Thursday, some residents have remained indoors while others are leaving the city in fear.
In areas around Uratta Junction, Ariaria Junction, Tonimas Junction and Flyover Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, some people were seen carrying loads and waiting for vehicles to leave town.
Some northern youths gathered around Ariaria Junction carrying sticks and stones and so were some Igbo youths. At Bakassi Bus Stop on the expressway, policemen threw tear-gas canisters at some youths who gathered at a nearby street.
There were unsubstantiated reports of killings and shootings in different parts of the city which has helped in heightening tension. Dr. Uchenna Anyanwu, Medical Director, Holy Wounds Hospital, Faulks Road, Aba, said that two persons suspected to have been shot in Ariaria area were brought in dead to his hospital.
He told newsmen that a mob, who believed he was on the side of the police came to his hospital and destroyed his office because he accepted to treat some injured persons. Anyanwu said that two injured persons were being treated in his hospital.
He wondered why the mob should vandalise his hospital when he was saving lives. At the city centre, shop owners closed their businesses, while commercial banks halted their operations. Banks, including First Bank branches at Abayi and Asa Road, Skye Bank on St. Michael’s Road, Union Bank and Ecobank on Factory Road remained closed.
Only Heritage Bank close to Ochendo Motor Park was open but with heavy security presence. NAN learnt that the closed banks received instructions from their state headquarters offices to close and watch events.
Ariaria Market which had been opening for skeletal sales since Wednesday was shut on Thursday morning following an alleged attack on the Ariaria Police Station by unknown persons. Meanwhile, every major junction on the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway within Aba has been occupied by military men. Neither the Commissioner of Police in Abia, Mr Leye Oyabode, nor the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Geoffry Ogbonna, could respond to inquiries on the situation.
While Ogbonna could not respond to a call on his telephone, a voice which answered a call to the commissioner’s telephone line, said he was in a meeting.
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