Police arrest 65 IPOB members in Port Harcourt _ JBN

Police arrest 65 IPOB members in Port Harcourt

The Nigerian police, Rivers state command has arrested 65 IPOB members for allegedly disturbing the peace and organising an unauthorized gathering in Port Harcourt.

The sixty-five suspected members of IPOB were paraded by at the command headquarters, Moscow Road, Port Harcourt.

Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operation, Ahmed Magaji who led the operation that saw to the arrest of the IPOB members said the IPOB members took laws into their hands by organizing and staging unlawful and unauthorized protest, thereby disturbing the peace of the state.

DCP Magaji said the sixty-five IPOB members violated an act, which was contrary to section 41C of criminal Code Act, Cap C37 laws of the Federation 2014, which he said amounted to treasonable felony.

He also said the gathering of the IPOB members constitute disturbance in form of traffic which prevent law abiding citizens from moving in the city.

Magaji said only teargas was used to disperse the crowd and nobody was shot or died during the engagement by the police.

Magaji said: “We called you here to let you know that 65 members of the IPOB were arrested during a protest held in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

“The IPOB members came out in thousands to disrupt public peace in the city despite earlier warnings that unauthorized gatherings are not allowed anywhere in this state.

“It is also important to let you know that it is very untrue that anyone was killed during the protest by IPOB members in Port Harcourt.”

“The Police used minimal force to discharge the agitators. No shot was fired.”

He said the arrested members of IPOB will be charged to court soon.

Meanwhile, Kennedy Kenechukwu Ochi, one of the leaders of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), has said no amount of intimidation would dim the struggle for a sovereign state of the Igbo.

He stated in Enugu yesterday that agitation for the realisation of Biafra would continue as long as the leadership of the country perpetuates ‘slavery’, arrests and clamping of innocent Igbo agitators into prison.

They were arrested for organizing an authorized gathering.The police however denied the rumour that any member of IPOB was killed during the arrest.