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The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu on Monday claimed that the Nigerian government is provoking the group to war with the alleged invasion of his country home in Umuahia on Sunday by operatives of the Nigerian Army.
The IPOB leader spoke while addressing the press on Monday.
Recalling the event, Kanu claimed the Nigerian Army drove toward his house while shooting indiscriminately at people protesting and asking what they were coming to do.
He explained that three people were shot and have since been taken to a secure location where they are receiving treatment.
When asked about his reaction to the police and army’s denial of the attack, Nnamdi Kanu said it was characteristic of the Nigerian Government to lie, and they should not be believed.
“They want us to become armed, so that the world can say Nnamdi Kanu is leading a violent armed group. Which is not the case.”
TheNewsGuru.com reports that Army had since denied the invasion insisting its personnel fired warning shots to disperse members of IPOB who lobbed stones and broken bottles against them during a procession in Umuahia, the Abia State capital.
“The attention of 14 Brigade Nigerian Army has been drawn to fictitious news going round especially on the social media that troops have invaded the home of Nnamdi Kanu and killed three persons.
“This is far from the truth. Rather, it was a group of suspected IPOB militants that blocked the road against troops of 145 Battalion while on show of force along FMC-Word Bank Road in Umuahia town, Abia State at about 6.00-6.30pm, today. They insisted that the military vehicles would not pass and started pelting the soldiers with stones and broken bottles to the point of injuring an innocent female passerby and a soldier, Corporal Kolawole Mathew.
“The troops fired warning shots in the air and the hoodlums dispersed. No life was lost,” the Army said in a statement signed by Oyegoke Gbadamosi, a major and assistant deputy spokesperson of the 14 Brigade.
TheNewsGuru.com reports that Kanu had on Sunday in an interview with newsmen accused the soldiers of storming his home in an armoured tank and about three Hilux vans loaded with heavily armed soldiers.
He added that the soldiers shot sporadically as they approached his father’s compound, causing panic and among residents of the area.
Kanu said the soldiers wanted to gain entry into his father’s compound but that IPOB members quickly formed a human shield around the compound and stoutly resisted them.
Kanu wondered why the army wound wants to invade his home when he had yet to receive any invitation from any security agency.
He, however, insisted that no amount of intimidation would make him abandon the struggle for Biafra independence.
In his words: “I was sleeping this evening (Sunday) when suddenly I was woken up by the blaring of sirens. Initially, I thought it was the Commissioner of Police who lives in the neighborhood that was returning home. But the blaring persisted and was followed up by sporadic gun shots.
“The soldiers wanted to bulldoze their way into the palace but IPOB members formed a human shield and resisted them. They wanted to break the shield and fired at three persons and wounded others before leaving. Everybody including children was running away in confusion.”
However, in a swift reaction, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Leye Oyebade denied any form of attack on Kanu home. “There was no attack on the home of Nnamdi Kanu,” Oyebade said.
“What happened was that the military was parading a new armoured carrier and passed through Nnamdi Kanu’s residence.
“It was while they were passing that some people threw stones and other things at them,” Oyebade explained.