Supporters of Radio Biafra operator, Nnamdi Kanu, on Tuesday, protested his arrest and detention in Delta, Rivers and Anambra states on Tuesday.
Kanu, who was arrested in Lagos on Saturday, was granted bail on Monday.
The protesters, mostly women, stormed the entrance of Delta State Government House, Asaba under the aegis of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Delta State chapter, saying his arrest was inhuman.
They were, however, denied entry into the Government House by police officers.
Bearing placards which bore various inscriptions such as “Freedom for Biafra, free Nnamdi Kanu”, “We are not terrorists, we are freedom fighters”, “We are tired of intimidation and harassment by Nigeria Government”, “Biafra on the move” amongst others, the protesters said they were no longer comfortable with the Nigerian government.
Secretary of IPOB, Delta State chapter Nnenna Nwaoha, said: “The reason for the protest is for Nnamdi Kanu to be released; we have suffered enough in the hands of the Nigerian Government and we are no more comfortable with it.
“We want our freedom that is why we are here. We are not comfortable with the Nigerian government, the intimidation, killing and all that; that is why we want our freedom. We feel very bad about his detention and it is affecting each and every one of us. We are not comfortable, we want to go.
“The federal government should release our Director, Dr. Nnamdi Kanu and we also want our freedom. As a nation that is due for freedom, we want to go; we are tired; the suffering is too much; it is not a crime to want our freedom; we want to go.”
Also speaking, Chineye Udeoba expressed bitterness at the detention of Kanu, saying “we are bitter and we are giving them a strict warning and order to release him.
“We are not Nigerians; we are Biafrans. My father is 72 years old and he is older than Nigeria. He is a Biafran, I am a Biafran and we all here are Biafrans. We the indigenous people of Biafra are ready to go. We want to be on our own.
“The British came and amalgamated us with these Oduduwa and Arewa people, we are not one; we were never one, we are totally different in terms of tradition; we are Biafrans. We want to be on our own as indigenous people of Biafra. We want our freedom.”
Mrs. Judith Ihebiehi said: “This man is our voice, he is our mentor. We have been in darkness all these while, so this man has been speaking for us, so the Nigerian government has no right to detain him; he has done nothing.
“Have they ever asked themselves if what this man has been saying is false? Have they bothered to verify what Nnamdi Kanu has been saying? So detaining Nnamdi Kanu will bring problems; we have been calming our husbands down, we have been saying ‘wait’ we women will go to the government, we will talk to them and say this is what we want; we don’t want problem that is why we are here.
“Our reason of coming here is to tell the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to help us take our message to the federal government. He is not the one detaining him but we are here to tell him to take it to Abuja.”
In Port Harcourt, over 5000 protesters, mainly business men and women of Igbo extraction, also took to the street.
One of the coordinators of IPOB, Mr. Chidiebre Aguodu said, “The reason for this protest is that our able chairman, the father and founder of IPOB worldwide has been held by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“We need him to be released to us unconditionally. The protest for now is peaceful, but we need Biafra and we need freedom.
“We are harmless, we have not harmed anybody and we owe nobody any apology for what we are doing, as Biafrans we stand for justice and justice will reign.
“Now our director has been held for days and we want him out and we want freedom in Biafra land.
“I advice the country to allow Biafrans go because the marriage has lasted for 101 years and there was no demonstration and the battle lasted for 40 years and we have won three times, all we want now is freedom because we are tired of the marriage. Let Nigerians be Nigerians and Biafrans want to be Biafrans.”
Another agitator, identified as Harrison Onyema said, “We want secession or we are ready to burn down the whole country. We will continue this disturbance in all the Biafran states until justice is made to our demand for secession.”
Coming closer home, he added: “Here is not called Port Harcourt; it is called Igwuocha, a city in Biafran Nation. No Biafra, No peace.”
Anambra State coordinator of IPOB, Ikechukwu Okoye said their protest was not meant to cause any trouble, adding that they were only on the streets to prevail on security operatives to release Kanu.
According to him, the protesters were marching to the Government House to plead with Anambra State governor, Chief Willie Obiano to prevail on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in the matter.
He said: “We are only agitators who obey the laws of the land. This is democracy and there is freedom of speech and freedom of movement.
“Why would anybody detain our leader and in the process be demanding bail fee of N2million. We have not come to fight anybody because we are peace makers”
Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Hosea Karma, however, confirmed the arrest of some of the protesters, saying it was because they were parading along the Enugu-Onitsha expressway thereby causing breach of peace.
According to the CP, “there is nothing like Indigenous People of Biafra. Those people constituted nuisance on the high way and that was why they were picked.
“Right now, I do not know the number of people that were picked, but I want to assure the people that anybody who disturbs the peace that exists in this state will not go unpunished.”
