There was pandemonium yesterday at Isigate in Umuahia the capital of Abia State. According to reports from people who were at the scene at the time of the incident, a commercial tricyclist popularly known as Keke driver, was accosted by soldiers for putting a Biafra flag in front of his tricycle.
On reaching the military check-point, a solider reportedly stopped him and starting questioning him about what the flag is all about and why he displayed it.
The man who reportedly answered the soldier that it is a Biafran flag, and that he is a proud Biafran – didn’t give “satisfactory answer”.
According to an eyewitness report, the solider allegedly slapped the Keke driver and started dragging him away in a bid to arrest him. At a point, the man couldn’t bear the pain any more and started to defend himself by fighting back as people started gathering to resist the soldiers.
As the incident continued, the soldiers reportedly signaled their base who sent more soldiers to the area..
Pro-Biafrans and residents who were already coming out in their numbers – tried to resist the security operatives, the soldiers were said to have started shooting live bullets at them as seen in the pictures below.
Several residents were reported to have sustained different degrees of injuries following the chaos.
As at yesterday night, soldiers were seen patrolling the area to prevent another fight from residents.
Some eyewitnesses also said some people were shot dead.
