At least nine people were feared killed in Anambra State Wednesday when the long-drawn peaceful protest embarked upon by members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, against the continued detention of Mr. Nnamdi Kalu the Radio Biafra Director, turned bloody in the early hours of Wednesday. Our correspondent reports that trouble erupted when heavily armed Joint Task Force members engaged IPOB members in a bloody fight at the popular Niger Bridge Head where some IPOB members have continued their blockage of the bridge.
The blockage which started Tuesday has caused a terrible traffic gridlock spreading from Anambra to Delta State. The encounter left about nine people dead, five at Niger Bridge Head and three at Obodoukwu Road. A beef barbecue (Suya) seller who was said to have been hit by stray bullet reportedly died instantly.
Miscreants on hearing that some people have been shot dead by the joint Military Task-force went into another protest, marched to the Central mosque near Onitsha Main Market and set a Hilux Pick Up van with a Federal Government number on fire. They also held motorists and commuters hostage at Upper Iweka with sporadic shootings that had never been witnessed before in Onitsha.
The protesting IPOB members had blocked the Niger Bridge early Tuesday morning thereby grounding vehicular movement in and outside Onitsha. The protest was aggravated with Wednesday’s early hours shooting to death of five IPOB members at about 3. 30 am.
As at the time of filing this report all the markets in Onitsha had been shut down. Also thousands of stranded traders in all the markets in Onitsha and its environs were seen scampering for safety and trekking to their homes, looking tired and worried, as gun shots were sporadically heard almost at every corner in Onitsha.
Meanwhile, by afternoon of Wednesday, calm had been restored as all vehicles used to barricade the expressway had been removed.
