Nigerian police kill one in gunfight with separatist group

Nigerian police killed one member of a separatist group in the southern state of Ebonyi after a gunfight with the members of the group Monday.

Loveth Odah, the police spokesperson in the state, said in a statement that the gunfight followed as some members of the proscribed separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) were intimidating and forcing people in Abakaliki, the state capital of Ebonyi, to comply with the group’s recent “sit-at-home” directive.

“People were going about their legitimate businesses and activities in the area but the hoodlums were distracting and forcing them to obey the IPOB’s ‘sit-at-home directive’,” the spokesperson said. “They blocked some axis in the metropolis, collecting motorcycles and burning them.”

As the police secured the area and embarked on a show of force to maintain law and order, the IPOB members opened fire on the policemen, Odah said, adding one member of the separatist group was killed in the gunfight ensued between the police and the group members.

IPOB is one of the Biafran separatist organizations in Nigeria. Its main aim is to set up an independent state of Biafra in south Nigeria. The federal high court in Abuja labeled the IPOB as a terrorist organization in 2017. Enditem