The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has declared 21 days mourning for its members allegedly killed during the military invasion of the home of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu at Afara Ukwu, Umuahia, Abia State.
The Biafra agitation group also says it has discovered more corpses of her slain members in a bush within the precincts of the home of its leader, SunNewsOnline reports. The group also informed that it is burying the slain members, numbering more than over 28 who were killed during the invasion, in piecemeal with 11 of such bodies already interred.
A senior member of the group, Mark Eze Ofuonye, who disclosed how some of their members were shot dead by the invading soldiers, and their corpses dumped in a bush near the home of the IPOB leader, said:
“Some of our members, numbering over 28, were murdered in cold blood by the military during the invasion of our leader’s home at Afara Ukwu. The soldiers were doing a sort of mop up operation; whenever they killed any of our members, they carried away the corpse to conceal their horrendous act but it was not possible.
“So, they filled up their trucks with our members’ corpses. The corpses we retrieved and which we are burying at present are those the soldiers could not carry. They just came out with the intention of killing any human being or living thing that was found in the compound of our leader. The people they met were not armed still they shot them, even people just standing nearby and those passing through the area were caught in the attack.”
“The corpses we are burying now (referring to the day of the interview) were found inside the bush. They were shot by soldiers and they ran into the bush with bullet wounds thinking that they could receive help there but no help came their way and they died inside the bush. Some of the dead bodies were discovered last week inside the bush at the back of Nnamdi Kanu’s house. The 28 were those ones that were killed within the axis of the house of our leader. But the total number killed within this range is 305 persons.”
The IPOB chieftain who said there was no need for the operation by the Nigerian army as members of the group did not carry arms neither were they violent, added that the leadership of the group declared the 21-day mourning for their slain members.
Disclosing that those killed were from the Eastern heartland, Ofuonye said that in addition to burying the dead, the group is also treating the injured and taking care of the imprisoned ones.
