ONITSHA [ANAMBRA] ; On May 30, 2016, scores of protesters demanding the restoration of the sovereign state of BIAFRA were allegedly shot dead by security forces, especially the Nigerian army across the Southeastern states of Nigeria.
The bloody clash between pro-Biafra agitators and security operatives took place in Onitsha, Awka, Enugu and Aba
In addition to the killings, hundreds of protesters were arrested by the police and subjected to torture and inhuman treatments.
One particular family, the Okpugo family resident in Onitsha, Anambra state, whose sons, Okuchukwu and Emeka Okpugo were identified as leaders of the Indegenous People of Biafra[IPOB] ; a pro-Biafra seccession group led by Nnamdi Kanu had been at the receiving end since the bloody protest.
The two IPOB cell leaders, Okuchukwu and Emeka Okpugo were allegedly killed by security operatives during the protest on May 30, 2016 in Onitsha, Anambra state.
A few days later, their parents, Mr and Mrs Okpugo were arrested by the police, tortured and detained. They both died in police custody.
Other members of the Okpugo family, including their daughter, Gift Okpugo were similarly subjected to abuse, intimidation and police harassment. She too had gone missing.
An Onitsha based rights activist, Barrister Frank Uchendu has accused the police and the Nigerian army of carrying out extra- judicial killings of members of the Okpugo family and other pro-Biafra protesters,
The Nigerian military and Federal Government have strenuously denied engaging in any of these acts. On 24 November 2016, Amnesty International accused Nigerian security forces of killing at least 150 Biafra’s secession peaceful advocates. The rights group also said Nigerian military fired live ammunition, with little or no warning, to disperse members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group between August 2015 and August 2016. But the military and police dismissed the allegations and say it was aimed to tarnish the security forces reputation.
But despite these official denials, there are obvious indications of the continuous persecutions of pro-Biafra protagonists and their collaborators in Nigeria. Hundreds of IPOB members arrested between 2015 and 2016 are still languishing in police custody and military detention camps in the south east of Nigeria while the fate of hundred others presumably missing had not been accounted for by the government.
