Nigerian police clash with separatist group

LAGOS – Six people, including a policeman, were killed in violent clashes between Nigerian police and a separatist group in the southern market city of Onitsha, officials said yesterday.

The trouble erupted on Wednesday when policemen attempted to halt a rally organised by the banned Movement for the Actualisation of a Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Anambra state police spokesman Kolapo Shofoluwe told AFP. “Our men were sent to break the protest because it was illegal.No permit was issued.It was at this stage that MASSOB members shot three of our men.”One died on the spot while the other two are in critical condition in the hospital,” he said.He said police did not open fire, but a MASSOB spokesman said five of its members were shot dead by the police and several others were injured.”Men of the Nigerian police opened fire on our members during a peaceful rally to protest the constant harassment and intimidation of our leader Ralph Uwazuruike,” John Edeson told AFP.”We lost five supporters to the police brutality.We are appealing to the United Nations to save us from the oppression and suppression of the Nigerian government.”MASSOB was formed in 1999 to seek a separatist state for the some 40 million Igbo people of southeast Nigeria.- Nampa-AFP”Our men were sent to break the protest because it was illegal.No permit was issued.It was at this stage that MASSOB members shot three of our men.”One died on the spot while the other two are in critical condition in the hospital,” he said.He said police did not open fire, but a MASSOB spokesman said five of its members were shot dead by the police and several others were injured.”Men of the Nigerian police opened fire on our members during a peaceful rally to protest the constant harassment and intimidation of our leader Ralph Uwazuruike,” John Edeson told AFP.”We lost five supporters to the police brutality.We are appealing to the United Nations to save us from the oppression and suppression of the Nigerian government.”MASSOB was formed in 1999 to seek a separatist state for the some 40 million Igbo people of southeast Nigeria.- Nampa-AFP