Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia
No fewer than five people were allegedly shot dead yesterday in Aba as armed police personnel allegedly opened fire on members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) who were protesting the continued detention of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
An eye witness told our correspondent that the protest began at about 1.00pm when the Biafran agitators all clad in white attire took off from Azikiwe road and marched through Asa Road singing solidarity songs and waving their flags.
However, he said that as the protesters entered Ama Ogbonna area along Osusu Road, they were confronted by security agents drawn from the police rapid response squad (RRS) who “opened fire just like that without any warning”.
“The was total confusion everywhere as people started running for their lives, some falling down screaming and crying for help,” he said. Aside from the dead, dozens were said to have sustained varying degrees of gunshot wounds.
In the ensuing commotion orchestrated by booming guns, businesses in Osusu were said to have shut down abruptly as people soought for hiding places.
The spokesman of the Abia State Police Command, Geoffrey Ogbonna did not respond to several phone calls put across to him and as the time of filing this report no official account of what happened has come from the police.
