IPOB Demands Bodies Of Five Members Killed During March 31 Protest

Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) asked the Nigerian government to release the bodies of five members of their group, who were killed last month in Aba during the protest. IPOB also demanded to immediately release 150 protestors who were arrested.

IPOB's spokesperson Emma Powerful issued a statement on Sunday, claiming that the Nigerian government and its security agencies didn't stop the attack on them during the protest.

"We, the global family and movement of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) under the command and leadership of the great liberator, Mazi Nnamdi Okwuchukwu Kanu are astonished about the unfair treatment of IPOB members in Nigeria," he mentioned in the statement.

He went on to explain that the protestors were surprised that the government and security agencies didn't allow them to protest without being attacked and murdered.

"We are surprised that the Nigerian government and its security agencies, especially their army and police allowed the Shiite Islamic group who protested peacefully twice in Abuja to do so without humiliation or attack, but murdered IPOB members who were protesting peacefully in Aba, Abia State, for asking for the unconditional release of their leader, [Nnamdi] Kanu," Powerful said in the statement, Vanguard reported.

"It is now on record that Ndigbo is not wanted in Nigeria due to the hatred shown to us," Powerful added. "We must organize ourselves immediately and leave Nigeria for the other nationalities who are allowed to act freely in Nigeria."

According to Punch, at least five people were killed on March 31 during the protest, which was done to ask the government to release their leader. A source told the outlet, "There is a shooting of unarmed and peaceful protesting IPOB members in Aba by Nigerian security operatives."

Another source revealed that the protestors started from Assa Road and before reaching Amaogbonna, the "soldiers opened fire."

Goodluck Ibem, who serves as President General of the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), signed a press release following the incident to condemn the "lawless killings of five innocent Igbo in Aba."

"We received with rude shock the barbaric killing of armless Igbo who was peacefully protesting and demanding for the unconditional release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, in Aba, Abia State," Ibem said in the statement, Punch reported.

He continued, "This is wickedness, barbaric, and lawlessness of the highest order. It is only the court of law that has the constitutional powers to give an order for the execution of any offender."

IPOB is a group of people in Nigeria who wants to restore the Republic of Biafra, who declared independence from Nigeria from 1967 to 1970.

However, within these three years, the country witnessed the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people from starvation and disease. In 1970, Biafra surrendered to Nigeria and was reintegrated into the country.