A man was feared dead in Onitsha, the commercial heartbeat of Anambra State on Friday as members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) went on protest.
The agitators who were protesting the continued detention of their leader and operator of the outlawed Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
They also demanded an independent Biafra nation.
Police in Bayelsa, however, said they arrested more than 80 members of the separatist group.
Markets were shut between 7am and about 2.30pm in Onitsha as traders were afraid that they could be attacked by the demonstrators.
IPOB had announced earlier in the week that it members would go on a protest to compel the Federal Government to release their leader.
Markets shut down included Onitsha Main Market; Ochanja Central Market, Onitsha; New Tyre Market, Nkpor; New Auto Spare Parts Market, Nkpor; Building Materials Market, Ogidi; Ugwuagba Market, Obosi; Electronics Market, Onitsha; Bridge Head Market, Onitsha, that has over 21 markets attached to it; and other small markets in and outside Onitsha.
Shops along the streets of Onitsha and its environs, including Awka Road, New Market Road, Old Market Road, Oguta Road, Limca Road, Iweka Road, Modebe Road, Sokoto Road and Haruna Street lock-up shops were also seen under lock and key.
Vanguard reported that IPOB supporters, numbering over 30,000, were earlier seen gathered at Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu statue by Niger Bridge Head, also known as Odumegwu Ojukwu Gateway, Niger Bridge Head Onitsha, chanting and dancing pro-Ojukwu and Biafran songs, from where they marched peacefully down to Upper Iweka Flyover.
They were seen marching from Upper Iweka Flyover to Onitsha/Owerri Road, to Nkpor Junction, Ochanja Central Market, Onitsha Main Market, Old and New Market Roads, Onitsha chanting anti-Federal Government, Police, Army and Navy songs, demanding the release of Kanu, whom they said has been incarcerated for over three weeks now, and the continued arrest and detention of their members as well as the actualization of the Biafran cause.
There was unusual presence of the police on the major roads and streets of Onitsha, but their presence did not deter the protesting IPOB supporters, who were also cautious of the behaviour of their members to road users and petty traders who wanted to cash in on the closure of markets and big stores and shops to do brisk business.
Seventy-eight men and five women were detained in a motor park in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa state, “because they want to foment troubles and unleash mayhem” said Bayelsa police spokesman Anisim Butswat.
Witnesses reported other rallies in at least four other areas, and one activist said police fired tear gas at marchers from Imo state walking to Bayelsa state border, though there was no independent confirmation.
In Port Harcourt, hundreds of pro-Biafra supporters marched on Okobe Community, Ahoada West Local Government Area of the East West Road.
They chanted solidarity songs as they marched on the road.
Eyewitness accounts said the activities of the protesters did not disrupt free flow of traffic.
There was heavy security presence on all parts of Port Harcourt on Friday to ensure the protest did not hold.
Probably to beat the heavy security presence, the pro-Biafra supporters had to relocate their protest to the East West Road part of Ahoada West Local Government Area, which is less than two hours drive from the state capital.
In Asaba, Delta State, at least 1,000 youths on Friday stormed the ever busy Onitsha/Asaba/Benin Expressway to protest against the continued detention of Kanu, the Director of Radio Biafra.
The protesters, who came out at 2:30pm, caused stampede and gridlock as road users made u-turn facing the direction they were coming from, while those living on the expressway down to the Onitsha Head Bridge in the Asaba metropolis fled their homes and shops for fear of being attacked by the protesters, who chanted war songs as they demand for the unconditional release of Kanu.
IPOB had called for a “million man march” on Friday, but it was not immediately clear if the group attracted anywhere near that number of people in any of the states where the protests held.
