The Imo State police command said it had arrested 68 members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) who clashed with the police at the weekend during their MASSOB Day celebration in Owerri.
Briefing newsmen in Owerri, the state capital, yesterday, the state commissioner of police, Austin Evbakavbokun, confirmed that 68 members of the Igbo pressure group had been arrested, with 62 of them already charged to court for alleged conspiracy, breach of peace and for belonging to an unlawful organisation.
The CP noted that the suspects were arrested for storming the state with insignias which are not of the nation and for, above all, conducting themselves in a disorderly manner.
He also added that the members had chanted war songs, barricaded the roads, and obstructed the free flow of traffic before his men moved in to disperse them.
Evbakavbokun, who expressed displeasure at the continual struggle of the members, noted that those who have persisted in the struggle never knew how the Biafra war was fought and won, adding that no nation would want to go through that experience again.
“Those who came out that day, I am sure, never knew how the Biafra war was fought and won. We have one nation; how can two flags be in one nation? What they are doing is subversive and the security agencies cannot close their eyes. We have to guide our nation. Gone are the days when this kind of thing happens,” Evbakavbokun said.
Items recovered from the arrested MASSOB members, according to the CP, include Biafra uniforms,Biafra ID cards , Biafra flags and some buses.
MASSOB members had, at the weekend, moved in a convoy towards the state capital before being halted by the police at the popular Assumpta roundabout, Control post in Owerri, during which there was a skirmish between the two and police used tear gas to disperse them.