Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was in tears at Nkpor, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, on Sunday night, when he visited St. Edmund’s Catholic Church/ Primary School where hundreds of Biafrans were allegedly murdered by Nigerian military and security operatives on 30th May 2016.
Kanu arrived the site at about 5:30p.m in the afternoon on reaching the site prayed to God Almighty (Chukwu Okike Abiama) for their souls to keep on fighting for the restoration of Biafra, which was the main reason why they lost their lives.
A statement by the IPOB Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful said the visit was in line with the initial plan announced by the leadership of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB for Kanu’s visit to the sites and the families of those of their members who were killed by the Nigerian Army at Nkpor and other places in Biafraland during the peaceful protests and rallies in Biafraland two years ago.
Powerful said the journey was made ahead of the May 30th Sit at Home orders for the honour and remembrance of their fallen heroes and heroines who paid the ultimate price for Biafrans to live today in the contraption called Nigeria.
He said the observance and commemoration of the gallant heroes and heroines is a memorable event in the history of Biafra and the world at large noting that those who gave their lives in the course of the struggle must be immortalised.
Meanwhile, the entire commercial city of Onitsha was completely shut down as there were no commercial activities in markets and streets as well as absence of vehicular movements as the residents observed the sit-at –home order by IPOB.
Security agents who had earlier, on Saturday and Sunday, patrolled major areas of Onitsha in Armoured Personnel Carriers and other vehicles were seen idling away in various road junctions as there was nobody on the road to control or arrest for any disturbance of peace.
The popular and ever busy Upper Iweka looked like ghost town as there was total absence of the usual bustle and hustle of people and commuters within the area. The nearby Ogbaru Main Market was empty even when security operatives guarding the markets opened the gates but no single soul turned up to either sell or buy goods.
Other major roads, streets and markets in Onitsha were virtually empty. From Oguta road, Old and New Market roads, Onitsha Main Market, Ochanja market, Nkpor, Ogidi and Bridge Head.
Some Biafran enthusiasts who were reading newspapers at Old Market road went into frenzy when they sighted some foreign journalists accompanied by Nigerian reporters. They chorused “All Hail Biafra” and chanted Biafran songs proclaiming that they are tired of Nigeria and needs to establish a Biafran republic.
Victor Ofoegbu, a local vigilante who spoke to reporters said “We are tired of Nigeria. This is the 3rd Richest Country in Africa but majority of its citizens are Okada riders because there is no job. One Nigeria is a joke, this people in the North, we don’t have anything in common with them. Their religion, language, culture and every other thing is different from ours. When we remember the number of souls from Biafra who perished during the civil war, tears drop from our eyes and nothing can be said to be too much to honour their souls” he said.
Another respondent, Friday Aleychenu from Benue State told Daily Sun in Onitsha that the struggle for a Biafran Republic has gone beyond the Igbo people to include those from the middle Belt and parts of the South South. He said that the Nigerian government will only delay its actualization for a while but every indication points to the fact that `there is no going back in actualising a sovereign state of Biafra.
Emmanuel Ihemeje, an Onitsha based journalist who spoke to Daily Sun on phone on the situation report from Nkwere , Orlu, Anara , Mbano in both Nkwere and Nwangele Local government Areas said the entire people of the area complied fully with the sit-at. home with every business and vehicular movement paralysed.
Unconfirmed report as at the time of filing this report said an articulated vehicle crushed a young man riding a motorcycle to death along Onitsha-Owerri Road as the cyclist tried to stop the driver for not obeying the sit at home order.
Source:sun
