Police in Nigeria’s oil hub of Port Harcourt on Tuesday fired shots
and teargas to disperse hundreds of pro-Biafra supporters as they
marched for the release of a key activist, residents said.
Shots were fired into the air to scare away the protesters in the
southern city, while air force helicopters were deployed for
surveillance, they added.
The police spokesman for Rivers state, of which Port Harcourt is the
capital, confirmed the protest but denied shooting or using teargas.
“Measures have been put in place to handle the situation in such a
way that public peace is not disrupted and to ensure life and property
are protected,” Ahmad Muhammad told AFP, without elaborating.
The protest, involving the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group,
comes after a series of similar marches in state capitals in southern
Nigeria in the last week, despite a police ban.
The groups support the creation of a breakaway state of Biafra in the
southeast and want the release of Nnamdi Kanu, who is believed to be a
major IPOB sponsor and director of the pirate radio station Radio
Biafra.
He was arrested in October, several months after Nigeria’s government
ordered Radio Biafra to be taken off air for allegedly broadcasting
“unsavoury hate messages”.
A previous unilateral declaration of secession to create the Republic
of Biafra sparked a brutal civil war in Nigeria from 1967 to 1970.
Federal police said last week security had been increased across the
country and measures put in place “to ensure security and nobody will be
allowed to disturb the peace of the nation”.
The demand for Kanu’s release has stirred up more protests across states in the region in the past days.
Since the end of the civil war, which left more than one million
dead, many from starvation and disease, there have been sporadic
attempts to revive the Biafra movement.
– ‘No faith in Nigeria’ –
The Igbo people who dominate the southeast region claim they have
been unfairly treated — even punished — since the fighting stopped.
Infrastructure such as roads, water and electricity is lacking along
with medical care and education, while Igbos say they have been denied
senior political posts.
The founder of the Igbo Youth Movement, Elliot Uko, says years of feeling marginalised have fuelled the current protests.
“These people who want Biafra do not have faith in Nigeria anymore,” he said.
“The idea of re-enacting (the) Biafra Republic has always been in the
hearts and minds of young people, especially those who seem not to
believe that the Igbo will ever get justice in Nigeria.
“They believe Nigeria is pulling the Igbo backward, they believe the
Igbo are better off in a separate state. I have been organising seminars
and workshops for Igbo youths for decades, I know their mindset.”
A revival of secessionist calls was exploiting lingering anger and
bitterness, he said, adding the government needed to take note of the
grievances and to “give all sections (of society) a sense of belonging”.
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