ABA, FEBRUARY 7, 2018 – Public outrage on Tuesday greeted the arrest and parade of some Biafra activists in Aba by men of the Nigeria Police.
About seven Biafra agitators were arrested in a Jewish synagogue in Aba, but the police said they were holding an illegal meeting in worship center.
The allegation was refuted by the suspects who claimed they were praying in the synagogue before they were arrested.
The state Commissioner of Police, Anthony Ogbizi, who paraded the suspects in Umuahia, said they were arrested with Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and Biafra insignia, arguing that IPOB remains an outlawed terrorist organisation.
The CP said that IPOB members had devised new strategies to further their agitation for Biafra by joining the same religious group of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, and using their synagogue as a place of meeting in disguise.
Asked why police also paraded members of Biafra Independent Movement (BIM) since their own organisation was not outlawed, the CP said that if they did something contrary to the law they would be arrested and charged to court.
Irked by the development, Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) called for the immediate release of the detainees, insisting they committed no offence to be paraded as criminals.
The National President of OYC, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, said that Police had no moral justification to arrest people saying prayer in their worship places or peaceful agitators seeking self-determination, whereas armed Fulani herdsmen had continued in their killing spree unchecked.
The Chairman of Umuahia North Traditional Rulers Council, Eze Philip Ajomuiwe, said that arresting non-violent agitators in their place of worship while allowing killer herdsmen to enjoy a field day portrayed the security agencies as biased.
He said that the police had no excuse to arrest Biafra agitators unless they were found with arms, and called for their immediate release to avoid any tension in Igbo land again
