The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) for the second day running took to the major roads of Anambra State yesterday to protest the continued detention of their leader and Director of Radio Biafra, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, by the Department of State Security (DSS) despite having reportedly met his bail conditions as set by an Abuja Magistrate’s Court.
The protesters numbering about 10,000 took to the roads in a peaceful protest from the commercial city of Onitsha using the old road axis down to the state capital. The march caused heavy gridlock along the roads as people had to stay in the traffic for as much as three hours.
The protesters arrived the capital city of Awka at about 6:30 p.m. yesterday, vowing not to rest until Biafra is achieved.
One of the protesters, the Lagos Coordinator of IPOB, Mr. Ikedigwe Raphael, said that their protest train took off from Agbor in Delta State on Friday and that they are heading for Abakaliki in Ebonyi State.
He noted that IPOB was divided into two sessions comprising Group A for Bayelsa, Rivers, Abia, Imo, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states while Group B comprises Anambra, Imo, Enugu and Ebonyi.
Also speaking, another member of the group, Mr. Obinna Remigus Ani, vowed that they would continue the peaceful protest until Nnamdi Kanu, Benjamin Onwuka and others are released.
“This protest is being carried out all over the world and we are different from Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), but pursuing the same agenda,” he said.
Another protester, Mr. Osita Amechina, commended the police for not attacking them while they marched to the State Government Lodge in Amawbia.
News Express observed that the Biafra agitators were being escorted by the police in the course of their protest as they followed and monitored them to ensure that order was maintained.
The protest was generally peaceful as the protesters went about their business in a coordinated way, avoiding any altercation – unlike what happened on Friday in Onitsha when one person was allegedly shot and killed by a securityman.
•Photo shows IPOB members on the march . . . yesterday in Awka.
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