Officers of the Nigeria Police Force in Owerri, the Imo State capital, over the weekend stormed the house of the leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike and arrested no fewer than 50 members of the group on guard duty.
This is happening ahead of the annual Ojukwu Memorial Celebration by MASSOB.
Report says policemen reportedly from the state CID arrived at the annex housing the Ojukwu Memorial Library, where work was ongoing for the celebration, in more than 10 Hilux vans.
A member of MASSOB told Daily Sun that the policemen condoned off the house of their leader and the Ojukwu Library, as they arrested all their members on duty. The source said the policemen contemplated breaking into Uwazuruike’s house, but were dissuaded by their team leader, who said he had information that the MASSOB leader was not at home.
Uwazuruike recently willed all his property to MASSOB, which fixed the staging of the Ojukwu Memorial Celebration for November 26.
In his reaction, the Assistant National Director of Information of MASSOB, Mr. Sunny Okoroafor alleged that the mission of the police was to assassinate Uwazurike in order to instigate crisis in the zone. He wondered why armed policemen stormed the house of their leader at 1:45a.m, if not to kill him.
“The mission of the Nigeria police who stormed the house of Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, leader of MASSOB at 1:45a. heavily armed was just to assassinate him in order to make the South East ungovernable, which the Nigerian government will use as an excuse to invade the South East.
“Armed policemen rounded up our members and also seized about 70 walkie-talkies of those on duty, but no amount of intimidation from the Nigerian authorities can make us abandon the struggle for the actualisation of the Biafra nation,” Okoroafor said, demanding the immediate release of the detained members.
When contacted by the newspaper, the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Mr Taiwo Lakanu said the police only arrested five members of the group who were protesting and chanting anti-government songs.
The police boss equally denied seizing over 70 walkie-talkies from those arrested, stating that nothing was taken from the five members arrested by his men.
“You know that Uwazuruike and his movement thrive on propaganda. We arrested only five members,who were protesting and chanting inciting songs against the Nigerian government. But if he claims that 50 of his members were arrested, I challenge him to mention their names. Again, it was a blatant lie that the police had seized about 70 walkie-talkies from those arrested, and I can tell you categorically that nothing was taken from them, so it was all a lie,” the CP said.
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