Nigeria: 34 pro-Biafran protesters held in southeast

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria

Dozens of pro-Biafran protesters were arrested in Nigeria’s southeastern region during fresh protests which resulted in the death of a policeman, severe injuries to two others, a police spokesman said on Saturday.

In a statement, Mohammed Haruna said that hundreds of members of the secessionist Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) converged in Nnewi town Friday evening chanting anti-government slogans and threatening to bar next year's election in the region.

Haruna said riot police units were immediately deployed to the area to ward off on citizens as the secessionists were armed.

“As soon as police arrived the scene, the rampaging IPOB members descended on the police, set ablaze one patrol vehicle and attacked them with machetes and stones.

The protesters also marched, shouting "no election referendum", according to the police spokesman.

Haruna said the attack left one police officer dead while injured two others who "were rushed to the hospital for medical attention".

He said the violence also resulted in heavy security reinforcements and arrest of 34 IPOB members who have since been detained for questioning.

Nigeria has grappled with a fresh wave of Igbo secessionist bid since 2015.

Led by IPOB chief Nnamdi Kanu who is now standing treason trial in absentia, the secessionist bod mirrors the botched attempt by ethnic Igbo to break away from Nigeria in 1967, culminating in a 30-month civil war that claimed nearly 2 million people, mostly Igbo civilians.