40,000 IPOB members shut down S’East for detained Radio Biafra boss

Protesters ground Onitsha, Aba, Owerri, other places Crowd defies military threat
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By  Nwabueze Okonkwo Chimaobi Nwaiwu, Nnewi, Chinonso Alozie & Ugochukwu Alaribe

Vehement in their resolve to get the detained Radio Biafra boss Nnamdi Kanu released and to actualze their agitation for the sovereign state of Biafra, no fewer than 40,000 members and sympathizers of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, yesterday, shut down commercial and business  activities in the South East states as they took to the streets to vent their spleen.

This was even as hundreds of agitators  thronged the court located at Wuse Zone 2, Abuja, yesterday, to show solidarity to Kanu who has been in detention for the past two months.

The detained pro-Biafra leader was supposed to be produced in court yesterday, in Abuja but the trial was stalled over the death of the Chief Magistrate’s father.

In Onitsha,  the commercial city of Anambra State and its environs of Obosi and Nkpor, the protesters held sway in a non-violent procession.

Vehicular movements were  grounded by the intimidating number of the IPOB  members and their sympathizers, who marched from the Niger Bridge Head to the former Ogbunike Toll Gate to register their anger against the continued detention of Mr. Kanu.

The blocking of the Niger Bridge disrupted vehicular movements for over seven hours before normalcy was restored on the bridge.

The attempt by the military to disperse them failed because of their number and their resort to non-violence. The military however showed professionalism that had never been witnessed in Onitsha, under similar situation as they carefully implored the agitators to free the road for other users.

Intimidating

The crowd was so intimidating that some businesses and markets located along the road including Bridge Head Market, Onitsha Patent and Proprietary Medicine Dealers Market, Ochanja Market, all  in Onitsha; New Auto Spare Parts Market and New Tyre Market Nkpor; Building Materials Market Ogidi and Bakery Market, also in Ogidi  equally  closed shops as a result of the protest.

When Vanguard sought to know why they closed their shops, some said they  did it in solidarity, while others said they were afraid of being invaded by the protesters.