Several persons, including policemen, were injured on Monday when a fight broke out between security agents and members of the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) in Asaba, Delta State.
The incident occurred along Anwai Road in the city when MASSOB members were marching to demand independence for a proposed separatist Biafra.
A nurse at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, who pleaded anonymity, confirmed that some of the injured were brought to the hospital.
A witness, Uche Okelue, said the fracas broke out after a police team threw teargas at the marchers in an effort to disperse them.
“The police used teargas on the MASSOB people as they were protesting along Anwai Road this morning, so the people got angry and attacked the policemen with knives and broken bottles.
“They caught one policeman, beat him up before stabbing him to death; it was a fierce confrontation as everyone ran in different directions,” Okelue said.
Another witness, Ben Onwordi, said another clash occurred between the police and MASSOB members at the popular Mammy Market Junction on Nnebisi Road, Asaba.
“As the group were protesting, the police patrol vehicle came behind them and tried to disperse them but the MASSOB people resisted and in the process they clashed and many people were injured.
“The MASSOB people damaged the police patrol vehicle, vandalising the windscreen and doors before all of them fled into different directions,” Onwordi said.
Yet another clash occurred at the River Niger Bridge on the border between Delta and Anambra states when some MASSOB members tried to conduct a similar rally.
A police source who pleaded anonymity told NAN that MASSOB members attacked some policemen at the bridge head, overpowering two of them, before throwing them into the river.
“We have been able to retrieve one of them from the river. He was brought out in an unconscious mood and rushed to the hospital, however, the second victim is still missing,” he said.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the Police Command in Delta, Charles Mouka, a Superintendent of Police, said the police were still monitoring the situation.
“We are still waiting for information on the incident. As I speak to you now, we are in the field, so I cannot say anything for now,” Mouka said.
