Police arrest 125 Biafra protesters in Delta

No fewer than 125 members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra have been arrested by the police in Delta State.

This was disclosed to SUNDAY PUNCH by the Acting Police Public Relations officer in the state, Mr. Charles Muka.

This according to Muka is to forestall total breakdown of law and order in the state.

This is as the Indigenous People of Biafra agitators arrested on Friday in Imo State are still in the custody of the State Police Command.

Muka said: “We have arrested 125 MASSOB members. We cannot allow the breakdown of law and order in the state. Those arrested are still in detention with heavy security build up around them.

“The arrested suspects are likely to be charged to court on Monday, we will leave no stone unturned to follow the law to the letters”

Meanwhile, normalcy has returned to Asaba, the Delta State capital and its environ as residents now go about their businesses peacefully.

MASSOB members on Friday took to the streets of Asaba chanting war songs and carrying fresh leaves and broken woods to press their demands.

Our correspondent, however, gathered that some members of the group went into hiding as the police clamped down on them.

Also, armed policemen have taken over the deserted Asaba textile mill, which the group usually uses for their meetings. The security agents were observed frisking passersby including motorists.

The Delta PPRO advised members of the public to go about their normal lawful business without any fear of molestation.

Meanwhile, the Indigenous People of Biafra agitators arrested on Friday in Imo State are still in police custody.

In a telephone chat, the Command’s Police Public Relations Officers, Andrew Enwerem, said that they would soon be charged to court.

However, some residents like Mr. Theodore Isika condemned the arrest.

He said, “ Boko Haramists were severally called for negotiation while members of Movement of the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, who don’t carry arms are always arrested and prosecuted. Often times, they are shot dead by security operatives. This is injustice of the highest order, I must say.”

Meanwhile, the Anambra State Police Command on Saturday said no member of the pro Biafra activists had been arrested in the state since Friday that the group commenced mass demonstration over the continued detention of the Radio Biafra director, Nnamdi Kanu.

Okechukwu also denied that police shot anybody during the protest.

He said “We did not go close to them. We allowed them to go their way because they said their protest was peaceful. They can attest to that. I’m not aware that somebody died in the protest.”

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party has expressed concern over the unfolding political events and developments in the South-East and South-South calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to dialogue with Biafra agitators.

The PDP National Youth Leader, Mr. Abdullahi MaiBasira, said in a statement in Abuja on Saturday, that President Buhari and his party should be held to accountable for the escalation of the agitation, which he said was threatening the unity and national security interests of Nigeria as an indivisible entity.

He said, “Rather than the use of force as an option which usually fails as a solution in this type of self-inflicted problem, President Buhari should as a matter of national interest and practical necessity, make haste to call representatives and leaders of the South-East for discussions before the situation deteriorates.”