Biafran agitators in a march

Two policemen and five other persons have so far lost their lives as procession by members of the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB in commemoration of the 49th anniversary of Biafra turned bloody in Asaba, Delta State on Monday.

The Acting Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), in Delta, SP Charles Muka, who confirmed this in a statement said five members of MASSOB were killed by military officers who had confrontations with the group along the Asaba-Onitsha Expressway in Asaba.

The Police spokesperson added that the military officers also arrested and handed over eight members of MASSOB to the police.

Muka said the protesters turned violent, attacked the policemen deployed to monitor the protest, killed two of them and injured two others.

“We had to deploy our officers to ensure that the protest was peaceful but we were surprised that the people turned violent.

“To our surprise, they started attacking our men and at Okwe Junction in Abraka area of Asaba, the group killed a police corporal and took his AK47 riffle.

“Also along the Dennis Osadebey Way in Asaba, they wounded a police officer and took his anti-riot gun.

“This group also attacked and wounded two policemen, suspected to be marine police, and threw them into the River Niger at Cable Point in Asaba and in the process one died and one was rescued.

“This brings the casualty number to two with two others injured on the side of the police.

“The protesters also attacked military vehicles along the Asaba-Onitsha Expressway which left four members of the group dead and eight others arrested and brought to the police headquarters.”

He  added that a pregnant woman was hit by a stray bullet during the fracas but now receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba.

Early reports indicated that a fight broke out between policemen and members of members of MASSOB along Anwai Road in the city.

Witnesses said some persons, including policemen, injured in the fracas, were taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba.

A nurse at the FMC, who pleaded anonymity, confirmed to NAN that some of the injured were brought to the hospital.

An eyewitness, Mr Uche Okelue, told NAN that the fracas broke out after a police team threw teargas at the marchers in an effort to disperse them.

“The police used teargas on the MASSOB people as they were protesting along Anwai Road this morning, so the people got angry and attacked the policemen with knives and broken bottles.

“They caught one policeman, beat him up before stabbing him to death; it was a fierce confrontation as everyone ran in different directions,” Okelue said.

Another eyewitness, Mr Ben Onwordi, told NAN that another fight between the police and MASSOB members at the popular Mammy Market Junction on Nnebisi Road, Asaba.

“As the group were protesting, the police patrol vehicle came behind them and tried to disperse them but the MASSOB people resisted and in the process they clashed and many people were injured.

“The MASSOB people damaged the police patrol vehicle, vandalising the windscreen and doors before all of them fled into different directions,” Onwordi said.

NAN further learnt that another clash occurred at the River Niger Bridge on the border between Delta and Anambra states when some MASSOB members tried to conduct a similar rally.

A police source who pleaded anonymity told NAN that MASSOB members had attacked some policemen at the bridge head, overpowering two of them, before throwing them into the river.

“We have been able to retrieve one of them from the river. He was brought out in an unconscious mood and rushed to the hospital, however, the second victim is still missing,” he said.