Two dead as Soldiers, IPOB members’ clash in Rivers

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Two persons are feared dead, and several others injured following a clash Tuesday afternoon between Nigerian Soldiers and members of the Independent Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), in Oyigbo Local Government Area.


Although there are different versions to the story, but a source close to the area told newsmen that trouble started when news broke at Oyigbo express junction yesterday afternoon that Soldiers allegedly ambushed and killed eight IPOB members at 44 Battalion Asa, Abaia State.

The members (IPOB) were said to had converges to travel to Umuahia, also in Abia state to honour the invitation by the second in command of the group, Uche Mefor, who reportedly arrived Umuahia from London and invited IPOB members to converge at the residence of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu in Umuahia.

The source said, in swift reaction to the call, the members mobilized and began to protest on the way as they go, with some of them attacking Hausa indigenes they met on the road.

Unconfirmed report had it that some IPOB members seized three rifles from Policemen and burnt a Police van at the junction (Oyigbo), forcing businesses and shop owners to lock up as motorists and commuters ran for dear lives.

Rumour mills also claimed that mosques and houses were burnt and persons killed, however a reliable source who is a Muslim said the mosque was not burnt but was ransacked and that nobody was also killed.

When contacted the spokesman of 6 Brigade, Col. Aminu Iliyasu denied the soldier was deployed to Obigbo to stop IPOB members from going to Umuahia, noting that they can only shoot if they are attacked.

Iliyasu said: “I am in Bayelsa now, but people have been calling, telling me that there is a situation in the Obigbo area. But I don’t know exactly where this is happening. But one thing is certain; no soldier was deployed to Obigbo and asked to stop IPOB members from travelling to Umuahia.”