‎Police begin prosecution of 137 pro-Biafran protesters

As pro-Biafran protests continue to swell in some parts of the South-east, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Solomon Arase has disclosed that no fewer than 137 of such protesters have been arrested and currently undergoing prosecution.‎

The police boss spoke on Wednesday when he visited the Ministry of Interior.

According to him, the suspects are all members of the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

Arase who also described Nigerians as lawless, however said inasmuch as the government respects the right of citizens to free expression, the MASSOB and IPOB activists must stop threatening public peace or face the full wrath of the law.

“What I can assure you is that we will not allow any group to disturb the peace of this country. We will clamp down on them, we will deal with them, we will prosecute them. Already, we have about 137 of them who are undergoing prosecution across the length and breadth of the South East and we will continue to do that.

“The latest manifestation of this threat is the attempt to block the Onitsha end of Niger Bridge on 1st December, 2015, an action that caused major hardship to innocent and law abiding motorists, and citizens. The act also occasioned serious dislocation of business activities”, he said.

The IGP equally dismissed reports of an attempted assassination of former President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday in Bayelsa State.

According to him, a driver veered his car into the ex-President’s convoy but insisted that no harm was intended.

He said: “From what I heard from the [State] Commissioner of Police, somebody veered into their [the ex-President’s] convoy but I don’t think it was intended to hurt him. We have crazy drivers all over the place; Nigerians don’t like obeying the law.”