Emene killings: We were unarmed – Survivors
Days after the killings of members of Indigenous People Of Biafra, IPOB at Emene in Enugu State, some survivors of the massacre have said the group were unarmed when the team of Nigerian security operatives attacked them.
This is amid claims by the police that they were attacked first by IPOB members with sticks and stones.
The survivor said contrary to claims by the police and the DSS that the IPOB first attacked the law enforcement agents, the youth only picked up sticks and stones to defend themselves after they were shot at. He said they were unarmed.
One of the survivors of the attack says he had to run into a Catholic church to escape shooting from the security agents during the killing of their members.
According to the IPOB member who witnessed the attack, he knew 15 persons who were killed that day by the Nigerians security forces.
The survivor said when the police returned with reinforcements, they began harassing innocent persons in the neighborhood.
They demanded to know where IPOB members, who escaped from Emene Community Secondary School where they were having a meeting had run to.
“They attempted to shoot me,” the IPOB member, who did not want to be named, said. “One of the DSS officials ran after me as I was running into a Catholic church. The reverend father protected me.”
“When they came the second time, they started arresting innocent youths that were not involved, asking where people ran to,” he said.
“They have been doing house-to-house searches, stopping people on buses, checking peoples’ phones,” he said. “If they see any Biafran symbol on your phone, they will arrest you. People cannot walk on the streets. They have been patrolling everywhere.”
Another witness, (female) who lives in the neighborhood where the killings happened in Emene told newsmen that the law enforcement agents appeared to be scared of a protest by IPOB.
“The army guys were wrong. They are the ones who shot first. They set up a roadblock along the Abakaliki Expressway in Enugu. They have been searching any youths they see in transit,” the woman, who is not a member of IPOB but craved anonymity, said.
“IPOB guys have never carried arms. They don’t act violently or harass people. Even though they want Biafra, they know they have to maintain the peace,” she said.
Nwada Ugochinyere Onyechere reporting, Obinwannem News