No fewer than 100 armed policemen yesterday stormed the headquarters of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) in Okwe, Onuimo Council Area of Imo State, apparently to flush out the factional commanders of the movement, who have resisted the quit order of Chief Ralph Uwazuruike , leader of the group due to leadership crisis that has been rocking the movement.
Uchenna Madu, who was allegedly sacked by the MASSOB leader, as the Director of Information, said policemen vandalised the MASSOB headquarters in a bid to eject the commanders, who occupied the headquarters against the directives of Uwazuruike.
“We were informed that policemen were acting on orders from above to force out the commanders from the headquarters because Uwazuruike had lied to the Presidency that we were working in alliance with the opposition parties to frustrate President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election in 2015.
“How else can the police explain that Uwazuruike who was earlier summoned by the Imo State Police Command, will suddenly turn around to provide him with tactical support against the commanders, who were agitating for their rights against Uwazuruike’s misrule and betrayal.? But the truth is that we are not against President Jonathan or working in concert with any political party against his re-election; we are only insisting that Uwazuruike should render an account of the resources meant for the struggle.”
Madu also revealed that none of the factional commanders were arrested during the operation, saying they had prior information.
“None of the commanders was arrested because we had firsthand information about the operation,” he said.
An eyewitness stated: “We were woken up by the sound of heavy gunfire and we started running for cover not knowing where the gunshots were coming from before we discovered that it was policemen who were shooting at the MASSOB headquarters.”
When contacted, spokesman of the Imo State Police Command, Mr. Andrew Enwerem (DSP), confirmed the incident, saying the police would not relent until all those, who were involved in the killing of members of the movement were arrested.
