Biafra Protest Escalates iN The South -East: Protest Rocks Enugu, Onitsha, Aba And Asaba (Photos)

Biafran Protest in Enugu

Members of Indigenous People of Bi­afra (IPOB) on Saturday protested round the major streets of Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State over the continued detention of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu of the Radio Bi­afra fame with a vow to shot down the city on Monday. This was in de­fiance of the warning of the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase for the group to discon­tinue its violent protests across the South East.


The IGP had in a statement issued through the Spokes­person of the force, Olabisi Kolawole warned that the group should stop its protest as information suggested that members of IPOB were plan­ning to use dangerous weap­ons during its protest in some of the southeast states of the country.

The protest which started as early as 7.00am saw mem­bers of IPOB march peace­fully through the streets of Aba in their thousands, carrying Biafran flags, flex bearing the image of their detained leader and chanting solidarity songs.


They also carried placards some of which called on the Federal Government and other International bodies to come to their assistance in order to help them achieve a sovereign state of Biafra and the release of their leader, Kanu.

Sunday Sun gathered that as early as 7am the pro­testers had assembled at a location near Ariaria Inter­national market where they were at initial stage pre­vented from taking off by a combined team of Police and other security agencies.

However, between 11am and 12noon, members of IPOB re-grouped and went round Ariaria International market with a bell warning that the market would close for business on Monday for a proposed mega rally, stress­ing that anybody that would defy the order would be seen as anti Biafra.

After beating the security web, the group around noon took off from a different lo­cation to match along major streets of Aba, including Faulks road, Aba-Owerri, Aba-Ikot Ekpene among oth­er places, causing gridlock.

The group before heading back to town made a stop­over in front of the office of the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA channel 6 Aba, located along the Aba- Ikot Ekpenne road. They were however prevented by the police to get close to the gate of the national televi­sion where they had wanted to voice out reasons for their peaceful protest.

Some of the protesters who spoke to  Sun Newspaper  reporter said that they decided to em­bark on the protest as a mark of respect for their leader, Kanu who they said has been incarcerated by the federal government and was refused to be granted bail despite the peaceful path that he (Kanu) and other members of the group have chosen to let the world know the level of marginalization and dehu­manization the southeast and south-south states have suf­fered even when they were the gooses that lay the eggs other parts of the country are enjoying today.

“Look at the deplorable nature of our roads. Water in the south-south especially the oil producing states and communities have been pol­luted. Are we talking about gas flaring that is going on in these states? Farmers are not planting again because their farmlands are no longer pro­ducing. Poverty is eating up the people whose resources is being used to sustain the economy of the country.

“We have said it and we are going to continue saying it that we are tired of being part of the country called Ni­geria where things go wrong and when you ask questions, people will call for your head. This is just the beginning of the struggle and we shall con­tinue to push further until our leader (Kanu) is released and until the dream of our fore­fathers for the actualization and realization of a sovereign state of Biafra is realised. It is not going to come through a violent means, but a non-violent one; our forefathers have fought the war that we are supposed to fight, so any person thinking that Biafra is going to come through violent means is just wasting his or her precious time”, one of the protesters said.

Soldiers and policemen were stationed at strategy lo­cations of the city, but it was not clear whether there was any clash between the secu­rity agents and the protesters.


Another demonstration by members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) was recorded on Sunday,November 8, 2015, this time in Enugu State.

This comes on the heels of similar protests in Aba, Port Harcourt, Anambra and Delta States.
As at the time of filing this report, the prtesters had marched through Coal Camp area of the state by were stopped by a barricade set up by soldiers around 82 Division.
Below are photos from the demonstration from Enugu:


Members and supporters of the Indepen­dent People of Biafra (IPOB) contin­ued their public protest yesterday in Anambra over the detention of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu and demand for the sovereign state of Biafra.


Thousands of the pro­testers mostly dressed like refugees marched along the Bridge Head area of Onitsha before proceeding towards Awka old road causing se­rious traffic gridlock in the process.
Though the protesters were orderly and peaceful in their conduct, travelers com­ing from Awka were trapped along Abagana-Ogidi road for several hours as the large number of the IPOB mem­bers blocked the major road.


Security agents stationed at various strategic points were on red alert to prevent any outbreak of violence.


An IPOB member, Celes­tine Ezeuko who spoke with Sunday Sun said that they decided to dress like refu­gees to reflect the true posi­tion of the Igbo man pres­ently in the Nigerian project.

He said that Ndigbo had no bearing under the Federal Government of Nigeria and had continued to be the sac­rificial lamb at every point in the Nigerian project even as he reiterated that allowing them have freedom would be the answer.
Meanwhile condemna­tion has trailed the reported killing of two people in last Friday’s public protest by IPOB.
The Civil Liberties Or­ganisation (CLO) in a state­ment issued yesterday in Onitsha described the kill­ings as senseless and wicked act against unarmed and de­fenceless people.
The CLO blamed the act on the proliferation of armed group and vigilance squad in Anambra state and described a situation where people with unstable minds and character bear arms at will in Anambra as a time bomb ticking to explode.

The organization called on the state government to commence immediate steps on disarming the large num­ber of armed guards operat­ing in the state while ensur­ing that the families of the murdered victims should be given adequate compensa­tion.

 Meantime, hundreds of Pro-Biafra supporters stormed Enugu metropolis at the wee hours of yesterday, protesting the continued detention of the leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu and demanding urgent recognition of the Sovereign State of Biafra.

The protesters in Enugu, who were clad in Biafra red and black colours, marched through major streets of Enugu metropolis chanting anti-Federal Government slogans insisting that the Directorate of State Service, DSS, should quickly release Nnamdi following the fulfilment of his stringent bail conditions by his Lawyer, Mr. Vincent Obetta.

Biafran protest in Onitsha

They were, however, peaceful as motorists were allowed to ply without any confrontation.

Nnamdi Kanu has met bail conditions  – Obetta, his lawyer
When contacted over the telephone, Nnamdi’s lawyer by Vanguard, Vincent Obetta said: ”I got a call from Police authorities asking why my client should call people out on the streets for demonstration. This is happening in spite of four court orders I have secured and served to DSS instructing them to release my client who was granted bail since October 19.

“DSS has not given any reason for his continued detention. We have fulfilled his bail conditions. To worsen the matter,he is being detained in DSS facility instead of prison custody with access to his lawyer and personal physician. Nnamdi is being detained by an executive order. Its is a clash between judiciary and executive.

“I have not seen or heard any place where a court grants bail and the person is not released. Under UN and Africa charter, it is enshrined that once bail is granted, you release the person upon meeting the bail conditions. We are sliding to days of Decree 2 and 4 of 1984. This is pure dictatorship.”