were killed on Thursday during jubilations that erupted in Onitsha,
Anambra State after a federal high court sitting Abuja ordered
unconditional release of the director of Radio Biafra and leader of
the group, Nnamdi Kanu from the custody of Department of State
Security Services. Kanu had been in custody since October 14, 2015
when he was arrested by operatives of DSS in Lagos Justice Adeniyi
Ademola gave the order for Kanu's release while ruling on the bail
application filed by the applicant's counsel, Mr. Vincent Egechukwu
Obetta. The applicant had also challenged the federal high court order
dated November 11, 2015 that permitted his detention in custody for 90
days.
Ademola said that the released of Kanu unconditionally was based "on
the fact that there is no criminal charge against him in any court in
the country." Reacting shortly after his son was ordered to be
released, Nnamdi Kanu's father who is the traditional ruler of
Afaraukwu autonomous community in Umuahia North, Abia State, Eze
Israel Kanu thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for heeding the call to
release his son, just as Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) has commended
President Muhammadu Buhari, for heeding the pleas of Ndigbo and other
progressive Nigerians.
The 10 members of the group were killed, according to eyewitnesses, by
soldiers deployed to Onitsha in the wake of last month's IPOB protest
over the detention of Kanu. No fewer than 30 others were also reported
to have sustained various degrees of injury during Thursday's
incident. The incident, our correspondent gathered caused panic among
motorists and commuters along the busy Niger Bridge area, Enugu/
Onitsha Expressway. It was gathered that supporters of IPOB who on
hearing about court's favourable verdict on Kanu converged at the
statue of the late Biafran leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu in
large procession.
An eyewitness, Mr. Festus Uyanna, a timber trader at Bridge-Head
Market, Onitsha, told our correspondent that trouble started when the
jubilating IPOB members were asked to stop their march towards the
Niger Bridge, but the group bluntly refused and continued to advance
towards the bridge which has been notorious since the protest for
Kanu's release commenced. According to the witness, it was at this
juncture, when the soldiers started shooting sporadically, probably to
scare the crowd away, that the ten IPOB members were shot dead. The
jubilation came to an abrupt end as members of the scattered and ran
for safety. Corpses littered the road, while motorists and commuters
who could not bear the heavy gunshots jumped out of their vehicles and
ran for safety.
However, courageous ones among the group's members threw pebbles at
the rampaging soldiers who retaliated by continuous shooting as if in
an enemy territory. Shop owners and artisans transacting business in
the area all shut their businesses as early as 1pm for fear of any
eventuality. The President General, Bridge-Head Markets Association,
Mr. Sunday Obinze whose domain has been a war theatre could not talk
to the press as he was said to be in a meeting.
Earlier at the federal high court in Abuja, Justice Ademola had set
aside Kanu's detention order. He also ruled that the "detention of
Kanu for more than two months without any charge is contrary to the
provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999
(as amended)." Justice Ademola further ruled that the provisions of
Administration of Criminal Justice Act and the Constitution of Federal
Republic of Nigeria were explicit on the issue of bail and freedom of
the citizens.
He reasoned that it was either the DSS and federal government were not
prepared or lacked enough materials or were yet to make up their minds
to prosecute the applicant. Nnamdi's father, Eze Israel Kanu who
reacted in Umuahia also appreciated the support of Nigerians who stood
by them during the trying period. He advised MASSOB, IPOB and other
pro-Biafra agitators to be law abiding and pursue the Biafra project
without confrontation. Eze Kanu however urged President Buhari to let
Igbo be by giving the people independent Biafra.
In their reaction, the National President of OYC, Maxi Okechukwu
Isiguzoro, and Secretary, Nnabuike Okwu, in a press statement issued
on Thursday in Umuahia said the release of Kanu would go a long way in
dousing the tension in the polity. According to them, Kanu's final
release from detention will also restore the confidence of Ndigbo in
Buhari's administration even as it would also end the protests by
Biafra agitators which had enveloped most cities in the defunct
Eastern region.
Ohanaeze, therefore, appealed to all pro- Biafra groups to reciprocate
the federal government's gesture by discontinuing with further
protests " for the sake of peace and in the overall interest of the
people," just as it called on the federal government to quickly
address all injustices against Ndigbo which it said were the causes of
the renewed agitation for Biafra in the first place.
-DailyTimes
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