Amid rising tensions, Igbo secessionists
burned a police post in southeastern Nigeria on Thursday, and separately
two people were killed, according to the police and local media.
“The
divisional police headquarters was torched in the early hours of
Thursday but things have now been brought under control. The place is
now cordoned off,” police spokesman Geoffrey Ogbonna told reporters.
Locals say the incident, in the town of Ariara in the state of Abia, stoked tensions further.
The
Nation, a prominent local daily, reported at least two people killed
and one other injured on Thursday in Umuahia, the capital of Abia, as
soldiers deployed to quell disturbances shot at some young people
suspected to be members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) -- the
group spearheading the secessionist bid in the mainly Igbo region.
Banks and other business outlets have also shut down for fear of violence.
Okezie
Ikpeazu, the governor of Abia state, told reporters that the army has
agreed to withdraw troops -- apart from pre-existing military
checkpoints -- from Umuahia and the commercial capital Aba to
de-escalate tension.
“With the
expected exit of soldiers from the streets, we must warn that we will
not tolerate agitators and protesters taking over the streets for any
reasons,” he said.
Separatist agitation
in the mainly Igbo southeast region reached a boiling point over the
weekend as army deployed troops to parts of the region, including Aba
and Umuahia.
The deployment followed rising activities of secessionists.
Video
footage emerged Wednesday night showing half-naked separatists being
forced to drink mud water allegedly by troops, sparking outrage across
the country. The army said it was investigating.
Another
video also surfaced on Thursday showing separatists stopping vehicles
and asking if persons from the northern region were on board.
Both
videos have led to calls for calm to avert another civil war, some 50
years after the country put down a 30-month insurrection to create a
separate homeland for Igbo. The civil war killed nearly two million
people.
Source:aa.com.tr
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