Protest rocks P’Harcourt over Radio Biafra’s Kanu’s arrest

Protesters, under the umbrella the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, stormed Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to protest the arrest and detention of the Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu by the Directorate of State Services, DSS, demanding his unconditional release.

The protesters, numbering over 5000, were split into seven groups. They appeared peaceful, but chanted war songs and called for the creation of the sovereign state of Biafra.

The protesters, who were largely Igbo business men and women, contended that the action of the Federal government amounts to impunity, as, according to them, Kanu was only championing the cause of his people.

The IPOB supporters who said they were not part of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, said IPOB is fighting the true course for the emancipation of the Biafrans.

A coordinator of IPOB, Mr. Chidiebre Aguodu said: “The reason for this protest is that our able chairman, the father and founder of IPOB worldwide has been held by President Muhammadu Buhari.”

“We need him to be released to us unconditionally. The protest for now is peaceful, but we need Biafra and we need freedom.

Read also: DSS arrests Radio Biafra Director

“We are armless, we have not harmed anybody and we owe nobody no apology for what we are doing, as Biafrans we stand for justice and justice will reign.

“Now our director has been held for days and we want him out and we want freedom in Biafra land.

“I advise the country to allow Biafrans go because the marriage has lasted for 101 years and there was no demonstration and the battle lasted for 40 years and we have won three times, all we want now is freedom because we are tired of the marriage. Let Nigerians be Nigerians and Biafrans want to be Biafrans”.

Also speaking during the protest, Mr. Harrison Onyema said: “We want secession or we are ready to burn down the whole country. We will continue this disturb in all the Biafran States until justice is made to our demand for secession.

“Here is not called Port Harcourt it is called Igwuocha, a city in Biafran Nation. No Biafra, No peace.” He said

The largely peaceful protest however caused a scare around Mile One, when some protesters invaded the premises of Zenith Bank and brought down a Nigerian flag. This made some security operatives attached to the bank to start shooting in the air to scare the protesters.

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