By O'star Eze & Praise Necherem

There is controversy around the ill-fated rally organised by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) at the Ekwulobia Township Stadium on Wednesday. Police authorities and the leadership of pro- Biafra group have come up with the conflicting account of the mayhem. While IPOB leaders claim a member of the newly formed Special Security Officers of Biafra was shot dead during the crackdown, the police insisted no life was lost as it only tear gas canisters at the agitators. The rally held at Ekwulobia in Aguata Local Aovernment Area of Anambra State.

IPOB, in a statement issued through its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, de- scribed the measures deployed by a joint security task force drafted to Ekwulobia to police the pro-Biafra agitators on Wednesday as ‘brutal murder’.

The group, claimed that the police officers acted on the orders of the Inspector General of Police to murder its members. The statements read: “We are holding the DPO of the Ekwulobia police station directly responsible for the murder of IPOB family member murdered by men under his command.

The social media has been awash with lampoons since the story of the controversial killing of the IPOB member by a joint task force comprising the Army, Navy, Police and Civil Defence was reportedly broadcast through the controversial Radio Biafra and its social media platforms.

However, the rumour was quickly dismissed by the Anambra state police public relations officer, Mrs. Nkurika Nwude who denied the IPOB claim. She insisted that the security personnel were there just to forestall any breach of the peace and, indeed, did their job accordingly.

The police spokesperson gave the police official statement on the fracas thus: “A complaint was received by the police that there is a gathering and blockage of road by some people at central school, Ekwulobia in Aguata LGA. The Police with other security agencies on joint patrol went to the scene, dispersed and cleared the road peacefully without any clash. However, normalcy has been restored and people are going about their businesses without any threat or molestation”.

Orient Daily also gathered from the okada men and several other bystanders around Ekwulobia Roundabout where the joint task force was stationed that there was no one killed.

“What happened was that the force men fired tear gas canisters to disperse a crowd of young men and women who were gathering along Secretariat Road,” a source said.

Another source who runs a shop along the road where the joint task force was stationed told the press that she did not witness any gunshot around the area and only saw pictures of a dead per- son on her son’s phone. “We did not see or hear any gunshots, but we saw it online and we think the victim was an okada man,” the source said.

Orient Daily reports that when word came that Nnamdi Kanu had postponed his purported visit to Sunday, the joint task force was recalled around 4:00 pm and the tension in the town died down.

A planned visit of the leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu to area in furtherance of his anti-election campaign in the state, was said to have instigated the clash. Orient Daily gathered that security operatives made up of soldiers, policemen and other paramilitary agencies stormed the area as early as 8 am in no fewer than 14 loaded trucks.

The source said that the IPOB members who paraded the area, singing and chanting Biafran songs, were not moved by the heavy pres- ence of security in the area.

According to the source, trouble ensued when the Biafran flags, caps, shirts and other items being sold by some youths were seized and burnt by the security operatives. “The situation angered the IPOB members and when they tried to attack the security operatives, the operatives tear gassed everybody and, in the process, one of their (IPOB) members was killed”, the source added.
Source: Seun Lalasticlala mynd44[quote][/quote]

I hope they will be present on sundae because we are going to shut down Ekwulobia

Foolish zoo military



#EvermayoR

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