By Phil Okose, Onitsha
There is palpable fear now at Nkwo Agu Army barracks in Ebonyi State, following the death in military custody of Mr. Fabian Okonkwo, a member of the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, otherwise called Biafran Independent Movement, BIM.
Sequel to the rumoured death of Mr. Okonkwo, who was in military confinement since April, leadership of the movement has expressed shock over the sudden news about the death of Mr. Okonkwo.
According to impeccable inside sources, Mr. Okonkwo, shortly after his arrest and beaten up by soldiers in their failed bid to force him to accept that he was a member of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, was driven to Army barracks, Nkwo Agu, in Ebonyi State, where he was visited with all manners of inhuman treatment.
Fabian was said to have been kept without allowing his members, close relatives and his wife to have access to him.
The sources added that the soldiers after the severe torture later took Fabian away and kept him inside a drum filled with dirty water since April 11, 2023 till he reportedly gave up last night, Tuesday.
The sources recalled that Mr. Okonkwo was arrested by soldiers in his residence at Ekembe mile 2 , Isiaka, in Ivo council area of Ebonyi State, for allegedly belonging to the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, which allegation he denied.
Several efforts were reportedly made by the members of BIM/MASSOB in Ebonyi state to persuade the soldiers to either release him or hand him over to the nearest police station, but to no avail.
The BIM/MASSOB leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, in a press release last week allegedly appealed to the Army authority in Ebonyi state to either release Mr. Fabian or hand him over to any police station nearest to them, abut his plea fell on deaf ears.
In a statement signed by the group’s Director of Information and Senior Special Assistant to BIM/MASSOB on Media and Publicity, Mazi Chris Mocha, Uwazuruike called on Army authorities in Abuja, to wade into the matter, insisting that the members of his organization are always peaceful and law abiding in carrying out their programmes and activities for Biafra’.
Comments are closed.