Biafra / Nigeria: Nine dead in crackdown on protests

Following the bloody crackdown on protests in Nigeria – in which at least nine people got killed – the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) calls for a political solution to the Biafra issue, warning that the peaceful protesters should not be criminalized. “It is short-sighted to interpret the increasing protests in Biafra as a ‘security issue’. The political, social and historical backgrounds should not be ignored,” said the STP’s Africa-consultant, Ulrich Delius, in Göttingen on Thursday. “Nigeria’s politicians must ask themselves why they ignored the discontent people in the south-east of the country for so many years – and why the genocide in Biafra, which took place from 1967 to 1970, was tabooed. They are partly responsible for the renewed escalation in Biafra.”

On Wednesday, the security forces killed nine Biafran demonstrators, and eight people were injured during a crackdown on a peaceful blockade on the access roads to the city of Onitsha. On Tuesday, about 40,000 supporters of the Biafran movement “Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB)” and the “Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)” had started to block a bridge and an access route to Onitsha, demanding the detained Director of Radio Biafra to be released. Nnamdi Kanu, who also leads IPOB, was arrested by the Nigerian State Security Service DSS on October 17, 2015, based on charges of a subversive conspiracy and membership in an illegal organization. The authorities are accusing Radio Biafra, which broadcasts from the UK, of propagating a secession of Biafra from Nigeria and of stirring up violence.

Eyewitnesses informed the STP that the protests on the access roads had been peaceful until the security forces intervened. The soldiers, police forces and civil defense had opened fire on the protesters. “Such brutal interventions are unworthy of the largest democratic country in Africa – whether the goals of MASSOB and IPOB are approved of or not,” said Delius. “Democratic countries must be able to accept peaceful public criticism. Using live ammunition against peaceful protesters is disproportionate, even if the blockade interfered with business life”.

“We are deeply concerned about the fact that 137 members of MASSOB and the IPOB were arrested and that there are investigations against them. Criminalizing peaceful protesters will only lead to a further escalation of the Biafra crisis,” fears Delius. The STP demands the detainees to be released immediately, as they did not commit any acts of violence.

Header Photo: David Holt via Flickr