Police arrest 51 protesting Judaism faithful in Umuahia
Posted by Admin | 5 years ago | 1,795 times
The Abia State Police Command on Tuesday halted a peaceful protest by some Judaism faithful in Umuahia and arrested 51 persons said to have been involved in the remonstrance.
The Judaism faithful, who came out in their hundreds, said they were voicing out their frustration at the Nigerian state to demand a state of their own, where they could practise their religion as a homogeneous people.
Clad in their religious attire of white overall and caps, the protesters were said to have chanted songs in Hebrew language.
The protesters were said to have taken off from the Afaraukwu part of Umuahia and made their way through Factory Road, Bank Road and Club Road before the police intercepted them.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr Geoffrey Ogbonna, confirmed the arrest of the protesters.
“Fifty-one persons, comprising 41 males and 10 females, were picked up by police for carrying the Biafra insignia during the protest,” he said.
The protest march was, however, said to be peaceful as commercial activities were in full swing at the city centre, popularly known as Isigate, before the police swooped on the protesters and fired teargas canisters to disperse them.
As a result, the protesters ran for safety, while traders abandoned their wares in order to escape inhaling the irritating gas.
It was learnt that pandemonium ensued as movement to and from the city centre ceased with drivers making frantic U-turns to avoid the mist formed by the teargas.
It was gathered that while the first batch of riot policemen were battling to arrest the protesters, who were running and regrouping to continue their march, troops arrived in four Hilux vans and an armoured personnel carrier as reinforcement.
It was observed that on getting to Club Road, the troops, joined by additional policemen, watched the protest from a distance until the police finally ended the protest before midday.
Meanwhile, an elderly man among the protesters, who gave his name as Israel el-Ibe, told journalists that the protest was aimed at expressing their desire to have a Jewish state in Biafra land because, “we are Jews in Biafra land and we are tired of staying in Nigeria where nothing works.”
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