Two killed in attempt to declare Biafra on Enugu radio station

There was confusion in Enugu on Thursday over the death of two persons, including a policeman, during a failed attempt by the Biafra Zionist Federation to allegedly announce the secession of the ‘Republic of Biafra’ in the studio of the Enugu State Broadcasting Service.

The BZF had earlier attracted attention on March 8 when members of the group invaded the Enugu State Government House to hoist the flag of the Republic of Biafra.

Having been declared wanted by the police after the invasion of the government house, the secessionists, numbering about 15 in number, invaded the studio of the ESBS around 5:30am on Thursday with a recorded compact disc, which was said to contain an announcement of the secession of the Biafran nation.

Our correspondent learnt that the Biafran activists, led by Benjamin Igwe Onwuka, ordered the staff of the broadcast station that were present in the studio at the time to allow them air the recorded announcement, and to also make a live broadcast.

The broadcasters resisted the directive and alerted the police.

An unnamed police sergeant, who was part of a patrol team that rushed down to the ESBS to contain the situation, was shot and killed by the secessionists.

A member of the BZF was also killed by the police.

The Enugu State Commissioner of Police, Adamu Mohammed, who addressed journalists after parading 13 members of the BZF arrested during the incident, made no mention of the alleged plan to declare the secession of Biafra.

One of the arrested secessionists was the leader of the group, Onwuka.

The CP said the group wanted to burn the broadcast station; that they came with a recorded audio compact disc; and that the members of the BZF attempted to "make a live broadcast to Nigerians."

The CP said, "They wanted to make an appeal calling on all boys in Enugu to come out, they also asked students to come out, those people with Keke NAPEP to come out, they wanted to order all public places to be closed today, all schools to be closed, all markets to be closed, and all government elected officials to surrender all their property in their possession.

"These people went there with the intention of trying to overturn the government."

Asked why the secessionists would want to burn the broadcast station when they wanted to make an announcement, the police chief said they planned to burn the ESBS after making the broadcast.

He further explained that the group invaded the broadcast station with machetes, a lot of arms, 25 litres of petrol, 26 beer bottles, a Biafran flag and some recorded compact discs.

Mohammed said the police sergeant lost his life because the patrol team that came to arrest the BZF members did not know the group was armed.

It would be recalled that the police had declared Onwuka and members of the BZF wanted for treasonable felony after the March 8, 2014 invasion of the Government House in Enugu.

Our correspondent learnt that Onwuka and his group had gone into hiding, from where they invaded the ESBS.

Onwuka, 52, is a native of Item in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State and is resident around Abakpa Nike axis of Enugu State.

Our correspondent observed that most of the members of the BZF, who were paraded on Thursday, were middle-aged men.

The CP declined requests by journalists for permission to interview Onwuka and his group.

Mohammed explained that granting the request would provide the secessionists a platform to achieve the objective of their visit to the broadcast station.


Delicate issue
Discussions or activities around the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970) are described as “delicate” and are sometimes suppressed by the government.

Recently, a widely celebrated movie, Half of a Yellow Sun, chronicling the Nigerian Civil War was stopped from premiering in Nigerian cinemas. The movie is an adaptation of a book of the same name written by Nigeria’s Chimamanda Adichie.

“Is it right to release such a film at this time with the security challenges in the country?” chairman of Nigeria’s Video and Film Censorship Board, Patricia Bala, said on Thursday.

She argued that the security challenge in Nigeria at the moment is a huge factor in approving the movie for public viewing.

Nigeria is currently battling Boko Haram insurgency, which has killed over 12,000 people; and a mix of militancy and oil theft in its oil rich Niger Delta region.

The police in Enugu are yet to make any categorical statement on the fate of the arrested secessionists.

The Enugu State governor, Sullivan Chime, is also yet to make an official statement on the issue. He is away in Abuja.