Biafra protest turns violent in Rivers

Biafra protest turns violent in Rivers
By Victor Edozie, Port Harcourt | Publish Date: Nov 10 2015 9:44PM | Updated Date: Nov 11 2015 1:48AM
Biafra protest turns violent in Rivers
pro-Biafra protest

The pro-Biafra protest in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday turned violent as the youths smashed vehicles windscreen, pulled down Nigerian  flags and attacked those who refused to chant their solidarity songs.
 The protesting youths who had Biafra insignias with them were said to have trekked from Aba in Abia State to Port Harcourt.
 Our correspondent reports that the protesters blocked all the routes leading to Port Harcourt.  Witnesses said the youths who were marching into the state capital through Oyigbo area, were confronted by anti riot policemen stationed at the popular Eleme junction.  A witness alleged that the police officers shot tear gas at the protesters to stop them from entering Port Harcourt, but that the youths were undeterred.
“It was something else today.
 The protesters became violent at a point. They wanted to confront the police who fired several tear gas canisters at them.  They were defiant as they forged ahead in their movement to Port Harcourt.  I salute the professional way the police handled the matter if not there would have been many casualties.  The police after battling for hours to stop the protesters surrendered and escorted them as they were moving. They pulled down Nigerian flags, threw stones at bank offices and even assaulted people who refused to chant Biafra solidarity songs,” the witness said.
 Another witness said three of the protesters sustained bullet wounds.
 He said the police shot sporadically into the air to scare the protesters and that in the process, stray bullets hit three protesters.
 The protest paralyzed economic activities in Port Harcourt as commercial  drivers withdrew  their vehicles from the road just as banks and shops closed down to avoid looting and vandalization of property.
 Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, Almad Muhammad, insisted that nobody was shot by the police. He said the police had been monitoring the situation and that report at his disposal indicates that nobody was injured.