BREAKING NEWS, Security
THE leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra in Cross River State, Samuel Okah, and 46 others have been arrested and detained at the headquarters of the state Police Command in Calabar.
The unarmed MASSOB members, who gathered under the aegis of Biafra Independent Movement, were arrested on Monday at Odukpani junction in Odukpani Local Government Area of the state during a peaceful march. The arrest was carried out by a combined team of security agents made up of officials from the Department of State Service, the Nigeria Police and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps.
The MASSOB members were said to have arrived Odukpani from neighbouring Enugu and Ebonyi states in an 18-seater Toyota Hiace bus with registration number Ebonyi ALL 327 ZT. A security source said that members of the BIM group were arrested because they did not get permission before embarking on the peaceful march.
He said, “We got a tip about a proposed peaceful rally by BIM but had to stop it because they did not get due approval. We had to arrest them for questioning to ascertain their motive.” A member of BIM group, who spoke on condition of anonymity at the police headquarters in Calabar, said the rally was a peaceful march aimed at creating awareness about the group.
He said that their peace march needed no approval from the police, adding that they were surprised at the eventual arrest and detention. “Biafra Independent Movement is part of MASSOB and the peaceful march was to sensitise people about the group. The rally did not need any approval or whatsoever because were unarmed neither did we disturb the peace. We were surprised when police, DSS, and other security agents arrested us,” he said.
In her reaction to the arrest, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Irene Ugbo, confirmed the detention of the 47 members of the MASSOB group.
She said that they were arrested at Odukpani junction for questioning. Ugbo said, “We got information about the rally at Odukpani and based on it, our men swung into action. The arrested members of the group are being detained for questioning. This is to ascertain their mission and objective. Once that is obtained, they shall be free to go because no weapon was found on them.” – Punch
— May 22, 2017 @ 17:55 GMT
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