It is believed that dozens of members of the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign States of Biafran (Massob) were arrested after the inspector general of police, Solomon E Arase, released a statement urging authorities to clamp down on people who behaved violently across the country. The statement read: "This directive becomes imperative owing to recent activities of members of the Massob and the Indigenous People of Biafra [Ipob] in some parts of the country."
The number of people arrested, originally thought to be around 200, was confirmed by the police to stand at 22. Four people were arrested in Anambra State, six in Imo, one in Abia and 11 in Delta State. They were all Massob members.
Amnesty said that after speaking with "dozens of Biafran activists" in the last few years, they believe that pro-Biafrans are targeted by police. A spokesperson for the group said: "There is credible evidence that they have been arbitrarily arrested, tortured and jailed in the past. They are still targeted by the police."
The spokesperson added that according to one of the group's researchers, there are "at least two dozen Biafran activists in almost every prison in the south east of Nigeria".
When contacted by IBTimes UK, Oleehkukyu Ali, spokesperson for the police in Anambra – one of the states where the Biafran activism is mostly widespread – said:" Recently, in this and other states in the country there has been a kind of excitement from members of pro-Biafran groups, and this excitement has led to their processions to become chaotic.
"So the police received instructions that anybody who incites in the name of any group people to go on processions that are violent in nature should be arrested."
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