Two people reported shot as Ipob supporters and Nigerian Army troops clash in Umuahia

TWO people have been reported injured after men of the Nigerian Army and Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) supporters clashed in Umuahia when troops came under attack from campaigners who opposed their presence in their leader Nnamdi Kanu's home town.

 

Mr Kanu who has been campaigning for the recreation of the defunct republic of Biafra, has been touring the southeast, drumming up support for his cause. Over the weekend, soldiers were patrolling near his home in Afraukwu Umuahia, when their presence led to an altercation with Ipob supporters.

 

As a result, at least two persons were reported shot while many were injured yesterday evening. Mr Kanu said the soldiers, loaded in an armoured tank and three Hilux vans shot his supporters when they stormed his home in Afraukwu Umuahia, although the Nigerian Army dismissed his claim.

 

According to the Nigerian Army, a clash occurred when Ipob members attacked a military convoy and injured a civilian and a soldier. However, Mr Kanu said the soldiers shot sporadically as they approached his father’s compound, causing pandemonium among residents.

 

Mr Kanu added: “I was sleeping when suddenly I was woken up by the blaring of sirens. Initially, I thought it was the commissioner of police who lives in the neighbourhood that was returning home but the blaring persisted and was followed up by sporadic gun shots.

 

“The soldiers wanted to bulldoze their way into the palace but Ipob members formed a human shield and resisted them. They wanted to break the shield and fired at three persons and wounded others before leaving and everybody including children was running away in confusion."

 

“They want to use force and beat us into submission because they have lost the argument but they will fail. They want to trigger war but we won’t oblige them because we are committed to our non- violent philosophy.”

 

Mr Kanu’s father, the traditional ruler of Afaraukwu Community, HRH Eze Israel Kanu, also described the invasion as unwarranted and shocking, adding that his son committed no crime to warrant invasion of his palace. However, the assistant director of Army Public Relations, 14 Brigade, Major Oyegoke Gbadamosi, who dismissed these claims, said troops did not shoot any Ipob member dead, as being circulated.

 

Major Gbadamosi said: “It is far from the truth that troops invaded the home of Nnamdi Kanu and killed three persons. Rather, it was a group of suspected Ipob militants that blocked the road against the troops of 145 Battalion while on a show of force along the FMC-World Bank Road in Umuahia town, Abia State, between 6pm and 6.30pm on Sunday.

 

They insisted that the military vehicles would not pass and started pelting the soldiers with stones and broken bottles to the point of injuring an innocent female passerby and a soldier, Corporal Kolawole Mathew. The troops fired warning shots in the air and the hoodlums dispersed and no life was lost."

 

He urged the public to disregard the rumours making the rounds and the fictitious photographs of purported victims of attack. According to the Nigerian Army both the soldier and the innocent female passerby have been evacuated to the unit’s Medical Inspection Room and are receiving treatment.

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