EYEWITNESS GIVES ORDEAL OF HOW SOLDIERS FIRED SHOTS AT IPOB MEMBERS IN ABA AND ENUGU KILLING 6, 30 INJURED, AND OTHERS IN POLICE NET
The protest embarked on by the
Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, over the prolonged detention of their
leader, Nnamdi Kanu, yesterday, turned bloody in Aba, Abia State, as a
combined team of security agents, comprising soldiers and policemen
allegedly fired shots at the protesters, killing six members of the
group and arresting 20.
Also in Enugu, the Police in the
state yesterday arrested 25 members of the IPOB, who had gathered at the
Naira Triangle in preparation for a peaceful protest.
Further investigation reveal that
the protesters had, as early as 9am, converged at National High School,
along Port Harcourt-Aba road, from where they usually march to other
areas of the city when security agents swooped on them.
Sources said the IPOB members were
in prayer session when the soldiers and their police counterparts
invaded the area and arrested some leaders of the group.
In the confusion, several protesters
were injured while 10 were feared dead. Eyewitnesses say that the
casualty figure would have been higher had some of the protesters not
escaped.
According to them, “the protesters
as usual, gathered at the school to pray before taking off, but soldiers
and policemen invade the area. There was heavy shooting. I saw more
than three dead people. Many others were injured.”
The situation caused tension in the
area as shop owners and residents scampered to safety. Motorists avoided
the stretch between Crystal Park Hotel junction and National High
School in order not to be caught in the crossfire.
An IPOB official who spoke on the
condition of anonymity said the security agents arrested the group’s Aba
Coordinator identified as Ikechukwu and some of his assistants.
The official, who disclosed that 20
IPOB members were being detained by the Police, insisted that they would
not relent until their detained leader is released as well as the
actualization of an independent state of Biafra, adding that the protest
would continue until Friday.
At the time of filing this report,
over 30 members of the group were reportedly receiving attention at
various hospitals in the city.
When Vanguard visited the area,
stern looking soldiers and policemen were seen at strategic positions
while a convoy over 30 patrol vans later took the arrested protesters
away. Contacted on phone, spokesman of the Abia State Police command,
DSP Ezekiel Onyeke, told Vanguard that he was yet to be briefed on the
incident. Enugu protest The protest march which they had tagged “mother
of all protest marches” was nipped in the bud by security agents who
stormed the venue where they were trooping in numbers.
The Naira Triangle was almost
covered with a sea of heads when the security operatives struck and
dispersed them. Canisters of tear gas were shot at the gathering which
snowballed into physical show of strength between the IPOB members and
security agents.
But for the application of extreme
professional caution by the security agents, the fracas could have
resulted in many loss of lives. Although many of the IPOB members
sustained injuries, many took to their heels as the police released
shots of tear gas into the crowd.
The media and publicity officer of
IPOB, Emma Powerful decried the attitude of the security agents towards
its members, saying the group is not a violent group and were assembling
for a peaceful protest march. Groups condemn killings Detained leader
of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu in court, yesterday.
Detained leader of Indigenous People
of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu in court, yesterday. Civil society
organizations in Abia State under the auspices of Abia Human Rights
Agenda yesterday condemned what it described as the killing of
defenceless protesters in Aba.
The group called on the Chief of
Army Staff, Major General Tukur Buratai and the Inspector General of
Police, Mr. Solomon Arase to cause investigation into the dastardly acts
and prosecute those found culpable, to serve as a deterrent to others.
Addressing newsmen in Aba, the
group; Foundation for Environmental Rights and Advocacy, FENRAD; Society
for Economic Rights and Social Justice, SERSJ; Human Rights, Justice
and Peace Foundation, HRJPF; among others; contended that over 15
persons have lost their lives in pro-Biafra protests in the city,
describing the situation as unacceptable and called on security agents
to respect the rules of their engagements.
Spokesmen for the groups, Nelson
Nwafor, Innocent Nwokocha, and Cassius Ukwugbe, described the killings
as the height of human rights violations by those who are paid to
protect lives and properties, asserting that the killing of unarmed
citizens is a heinous crime against God and humanity.
According to the CSOs, “Over 10
people lost their lives during the protest against the detention of the
Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu. Several others sustained various
degrees of injuries as security agents clashed with protesters.
Security agents must restrict
themselves to the rules of their engagements in crisis situation.” Drama
in court Meantime, a mild drama took place within the premises of the
Federal High Court in Abuja, as the detained leader of the Indigenous
People of Biafra, IPOB, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, whose trial was billed for
yesterday, refused to remove his handcuffs. It took the intervention of
his lead counsel, Chief Chuks Muoma, SAN, to persuade Kanu to step-down
from the prison van that brought him to court for trial.
Though he eventually succumbed to
persuasion by his lawyer to alight from the prison van, however, Kanu,
swore that he would not allow anybody to remove the handcuffs which he
wore into the court room. Rejection Also yesterday, trial Justice John
Tsoho, dismissed an application by the detained leader of the IPOB, Mr.
Nnamdi Kanu, for an order compelling the Department of State Services,
DSS, to release some items that were forcefully seized from him on the
day he was arrested.
Among the items Kanu wanted the
court to help him retrieve from the security agency included his British
and Nigerian passports, as well as $2,200 and N87, 000.
The IPOB leader who is facing
treason charge, made the oral application through his lawyer, Chief
Chuks Muoma, SAN, on a day the Federal Government applied for protection
of the identities of witnesses that were billed to testify against him.
Muoma contended that the items were
not among the exhibits the prosecution listed in his proof-of evidence
before the court. He argued that the fact that the prosecution had by
way of an affidavit evidence, deposed that investigation had been
concluded on the matter, and did not include the seized items among the
materials it would rely upon to establish the guilt of the defendant,
meant they would not be needed during the trial.
The application was vehemently
opposed by the Director of Public Prosecution, DPP, Mr. Mohammed Diri,
who insisted that the proper procedure was for the defendant to write an
application to the Attorney General of the Federation, requesting for
the said items to be released to him if it would not be used in the
course of the trial.
“If the application is brought to
the AGF, it is for us at that level to look at the relevance of the
items vis-à-vis the prosecution of this case, and reply accordingly. At
this point in time, evidence has not been adduced in this court,” Diri
argued.
Placing reliance on section 10(7) of
the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, 2015, the DPP,
maintained that Kanu could only make such application at the end of his
trial.
He said: “It should be made at the
close of the case of the prosecution. As to the two passports, the proof
of evidence before this court indicates that despite the fact that the
1st defendant carries Nigerian and British passports, he sneaked into
the territory of the Federal Republic of Nigeria without using any of
them.”
Source: Vanguard
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