April 18 2020 | Radio Biafra
It was a black day in Aba, the Abia State commercial nerve centre on Friday 17th April 2020, as mayhem engulfed some sections of the city.
It all started from Uratta junction where armed police officers stopped a fully loaded commuter tricycle. An eye witness confirmed to Family Writers Press International, that some police officers of Ogbosisi police station, arrested the tricycle operator who tried to escape with his passengers. He was there and then, grievously brutalized to death. This prompted a sudden mobilization of the youths of the area who marched in their numbers to the Ogbosisi police station, to demand for justice. It should be stated here that the corpse of the killed tricycle operator was taken away by the policemen.
The angry youths on their way to the station were accosted by a group of Nigerian soldiers on a road block, who sought explanation behind their rampage. They were eventually allowed to go following their insistence on going to the police station to retrieve their late brother’s corpse who they refused to believe, was taken to hospital, as deceitfully painted.
Soon after, a combined team of fully armed mobile policemen and officers of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), appeared on Hilux trucks arrived, shooting sporadically. Tear gas and live bullets were shot and, in the process, a young Biafran man was at on his two legs. The youths saw this as grossly provocative even amidst the adverse effects of covid-19 pandemic lockdown. They vowed to avenge the senseless and unprovocative assault of the Nigerian security forces against the Biafran people, with many being relentlessly killed and maimed.
The eye witness further revealed that the angry youths later regrouped at Uratta junction, determined to register their grievances over the incident, come what may. It was yet at this point, that another batch of police escort met a strong blockage of angry mammoth crowd and in their forceful attempt to break through, shot a Biafran young man in the head. He died immediately. The youths unsuccessfully went after the escort which sped off, sensing the ensuing danger. This ugly incident further threw Aba residents into mourning, with all that saw the slain young man, struggling unto death in his own pool of blood.
A combined enforcement team of armed policemen drafted from Uratta Divisional Police Station, Abia State Area Command and Federal SARS, arrived and forcefully dispersed the people amidst shots of teargas. After about an hour interval, the corpse of this young man was taken based investigation, to Umuahia. Uneasy calm was therefore restored, with a totally joint task force team comprising of officers drafted from the Department of Security Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Navy which earlier arrived the scene, equally leaving.
Later on, in the evening of same Friday, 17th April 2020, the Nigerian police arrived the area still, harassing and arresting innocent people, and taking them to the police station. Their fate is yet being awaited as at the time of filing in this report.
Source: The Biafra Herald
Published by:
Chibuike John Nebeokike
For: Radio Biafra Media
