60 IPOB members put on trial

Sixty people, suspected to be members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, were remanded in custody today when they appeared in court after clashes with the security services in Abia state. The defendants are charged with a string of offences, including attempted murder and terrorism.

Abia state police spokesman Geoffrey Ogbonna said the case before magistrates in the state capital Umuahia was adjourned until October 25. No plea was entered.

The case is the second involving suspected IPOB members following the clashes earlier this month that were sparked by a build-up of troops in the south-east. Seven people were detained last week in Aba.

IPOB wants an independent state for the Igbo people who dominate the southeast region, reviving secessionist sentiment that led to a brutal civil war 50 years ago.

Tension has been building since October 2015 when the group’s leader, Nnamdi Kanu, was arrested and held in custody until he was released on bail in April this year.

His trial on charges of treasonable felony is expected to resume next month.

The army earlier this month flooded Abia state with troops, ostensibly as part of an operation against violent crime, but IPOB suspected it was an attempt to curb its activities.

Supporters clashed in Abia and neighbouring Rivers state, while the violence threatened to take on a wider ethnic dimension when unrest flared in the central city of Jos.

Nigeria’s government has since formally proscribed IPOB as a terrorist organisation and accused it of stoking tensions by making false claims online of genocide against Igbos.