Another crisis in Easter Nigeria

 AWKA/ENUGU – Awka, the Anambra State capital, was a shadow of itself on Saturday with resi­dents literally looking behind their shoulders as anxiety mounted over alleged kill­ing of soldiers in Ihiala and threats issued by the Indige­nous People of Biafra (IPOB) against violation of the sit-at-home order for Monday.

The matter was not helped by the change of date from Sunday to Monday and anoth­er group threatening to take over Biafra land from May 26.

Saturday afternoon, too, a film clip in which the pro­ducer claimed that he was trapped in Onitsha because soldiers had closed the Ihi­ala end of Onitsha-Owerri road due to the casualties it suffered, also heightened peo­ple’s anxieties.

The producer claimed he was Lagos bound, but could not continue his journey.

Yet another film clip show­ing helicopter gunboats rain­ing bullets on a community said to be Ihiala also went viral.

As if these were not enough, heavily armed un­identified men in Sports Util­ity Vehicle patrolled Awka and, as it stopped briefly un­der the Aroma flyover, there was a stampede.

The fear of unknown gun­men, security officers whose charge was not clear to the public, and the spate of kill­ings by rival cults groups had combined to keep Anambra on edge.

Meanwhile, the IPOB had renewed its call for a sit-at-home on Monday to honour heroes of the Nigerian Civil War among the Igbo.

The renewed call on Satur­day reinforced an earlier call.

The group said: “The Bi­afra Remembrance Day and candle light procession will take place on Sunday night May 30, while sit-at-home and total lockdown takes place on Monday, May 31, 2021, and not May 30th as earlier an­nounced.”

The adjustment, accord­ing to the Media and Pub­licity Secretary, Emma Pow­erful, is to enable churches hold their normal services on Sunday, May 30, without any obstructions.

“But there will be no hu­man or vehicular movement throughout Biafra land on Monday, May 31.

“Every person in Biafra land is, therefore, advised to observe a sit-at-home order on Monday, May 31, 2021.

“That day is a sacred day in Biafra land in honour of the over five million Biafrans mas­sacred by the wicked Nigeria forces during the civil war.

“There will be a total lock­down all through Biafra land on that day as we remember all our fallen heroes and hero­ines, including agitators who have paid the supreme price in the course of our struggle for independence since 1967 till date.