The ongoing Pro-Biafra protest against the arrest of Director of London-based Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, by the Federal Government on Tuesday, spread to Rivers, paralysing socio-economic activities in Port Harcourt.
Confirming this to newsmen in Port Harcourt, Spokesman of the Police Command in the state, Mr Ahmad Muhammad, said that the protesters came into the state from Aba on Monday night.
According to him, they spent the night at Oyigbo and commenced the protest from there before moving into Port Harcourt.
The Biafra movement demonstration began early last week in parts of the South-East and spread to Asaba, Delta, on Friday, where no fewer than 20 of the demonstrators were arrested by the police.
In Rivers, the protesters, some riding on motorcycles and flying Biafra flags, marched through Aba Road into Port Harcourt city but where intercepted by the police with a barricade between Rumukrushi and 1st Artillery junction.
At that point, the scene became rowdy and the police used teargas in effort to disperse the protesters. In the stampede that ensued, some of the protesters fell down as they scampered for the safety.
But, some of them, who later converged on a spot in the area, claimed that the people that fell down were shot with live ammunition by the police. One of the protesters, Samuel Elijah, 25, explained that the reason for the demonstration was to make the Federal Government to release Kanu.
Some residents of Aba Road, who were forced to shut their homes and businesses, decried the development, saying it was ill-timed and unnecessary. They also said that the protesters ought to have complied with the procedure for protests to avoid clash with security agents.
On the alleged use of live ammunition on the protesters, the police spokesman declined comment and did not also confirm if arrests had been made.
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