Women of Indigenous People of of Biafra (IPOB) and other Biafran women yesterday protested naked in Abiriba, in Abia State following the alleged arrest and harassment of their members by military men at Ohafia during their general meeting.
It was gathered that as the Biafran women were holding their meetings soldiers stormed the venue and allegedly started shooting sporadically, and later arrested some of them and took them to the Barrack at Ohafia.
The action of the soldiers angered the women who later stripped naked and marched to the palace of the traditional ruler of the community protesting the soldier’s action. The traditional ruler assured them that he will make sure that those arrested would be released.
Meanwhile, the Media and Publicity officer of IPOB ,Mr. Emma Powerful in his reaction condemned what he described as barbaric and unprofessional conduct of the Nigerian Army officers against the Biafran and IPOB Women.
“According to information reaching us, the soldiers stormed the venue of the meeting with 20 Hilux vans and without provocation started beating, arresting and tearing the women’s clothes resulting in some of them being stripped naked before taking them to their barracks. Food, clothing and accessories belonging to some of the women were seized by the soldiers and taken to the Ohafia Barracks in Abia State” he alleged.
“This barbaric and wholly undemocratic conduct of the Army must be condemned by all civilised people. The primitive approach to civil policing adopted by the army makes a mockery of common sense and decency.”
Is it the duty of an army to be going about stripping women naked for no justifiable reason? The Nigerian Police also joined them in the manhandling, humiliation and molestation of our mothers whose only crime is to identify with the cause of our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu” ? We are therefore calling on the women organizations around the globe to condemn and take this abuse of Biafra women by the Nigerian Army to the rest of the world,” Powerful declared.
However when contacted, the Deputy Director of Army Public Relations of 82 Division of Nigerian Army Col. Sagir Musa when contacted on the incident said that he was not aware of the matter as he was away at Taraba state for a conference.
Biafra Day: Security agencies can’t stop sit-at-home order –IPOB
By Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has advised all Biafrans to store food and suspend travelling as there will be no human and vehicular movement on May 30, 2017 to honour of the fallen heroes during the civil war between 1967 and 1970.
The group said that no amount of sabotage and threats by Nigerian government and security operatives designed to discourage the public from sitting at home as ordered by its leader, Nnamdi Kanu would stop it.
The Publicity Secretary of IPOB, Mr. Emma Powerful in a statement yesterday said that all markets, motor parks, banks, schools and artisans in Biafra must shut down to honour the dead.
