9 Protesters Die, 2 Police Officers Killed, 18 Injured As Pro-Biafra Turns Bloody

Culled From Vanguard

The three-week-long pro-Biafra protests turned bloody,
yesterday, as the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) killed nine of the protesters
and injured 18 in Onitsha, the commercial city of Anambra State.Pro-Biafra
protesters mount road blocks and bonfires at Onitsha Head Bridge in Anambra
State.

Irked by the stubborn disposition of the pro- Biafra
agitators, who blocked the Niger Bridge Head and refused to give way to
motorists, the JTF comprising Army, Navy, Police and Civil Defence troops,
yesterday  afternoon, opened fire at
protesting members of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, and  Movement for the Actualisation of the
Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, killing nine people and injuring 18.

Five people were killed at Niger Bridge Head while three
were killed at Obodoukwu Road. A suya (barbecue meat) seller said to have been
hit by a stray bullet died instantly. The protesters were having a peaceful
procession across South East states and had vowed to continue their blockage of
the bridge for three days until detained Director of Radio Biafra, Mr. Nnamdi
Kanu is released.

Miscreants, on hearing that some people had been shot dead
by the JTF, started another protest, marched to the Central mosque near Onitsha
Main Market and set it ablaze. A Hilux pick-up van with Federal Government
number plate was also burnt when the JTF held motorists and commuters hostage
at Upper Iweka with sporadic shootings that had never been witnessed before in
Onitsha.

Despite losing  two
men, we  didn’t attack  protesters – 
Police

The Anambra Police Command said, yesterday, that despite
losing two of its men during the pro-Biafra protests in Onitsha, the command
never retaliated.

The command’s Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mr. Ali
Okechukwu, in an interview, faulted the allegation that Police fired at the
protesters, adding that one of the policemen, a sergeant, was killed at Obodo
Ukwu, while the other was killed at Eze Iweka road.

He said that following the problem in Onitsha, police kept
vigil to ensure that peace was maintained and totally denied police involvement
in the bloody riot that led to the death of about nine people.

“We did not fire a shot at anybody and even when our men
were felled, we still did not retaliate,” he said.

It was gathered that what led to yesterday’s violence was an
attempt by the JTF to reopen the blocked roads at the Bridge Head and at Upper
Iweka road in the wee hours of Wednesday.

When the security operatives tried to open the roads, it was
learned, they met resistance from the protesters, who grounded Onitsha on
Tuesday and ensured that no vehicle entered or left the commercial city.