Two pro-Biafran agitators killed in Delta as protests turn violence.

Two persons were reportedly shot dead on Monday following a violent clash between members of Indigenous People of Biafra and a combined team of soldiers and policemen at the Asaba end of the River Niger Bridge.

‎Three others persons, including a soldier were said to have been seriously injured in the fracas, which also involved members of the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra.

Three persons, including a man who allegedly performed rituals and incantations on the highway during the incident,‎ were also arrested.

It was learnt that over 2,000 members of the two pro-Biafra groups had gathered along Anwai Road and allegedly barricaded the access route to the Delta State Government House in Asaba, as part of the Biafra Heroes’ Day rally.

The rally was, however, said to have been hijacked by some hoodlums who posed as members of the groups and allegedly molested innocent citizens on the road, stripping them of their valuables.

The situation was said to have prompted a joint team of policemen and soldiers who arrived at the scene and dispersed the crowd from the area.

However, the pro-Biafra demonstrators were said to have later reassembled at Cable Road, around the A Division police station but also dispersed by the team.

According to a source, sporadic shooting ensued when security operatives ‎fired tear gas canisters to the “violent” crowd, after issuing several warnings.

The 4 Brigade Command of the Nigerian Army, in a statement by its Spokesman, Captain Jonah Unuakhalu, on Monday evening, said that the gunshots ensued “from within the crowd”.

‎The statement read, “The crowd moved towards the Niger Bridge with hostile and violent actions. They resorted to stoning the police team and the soldiers deployed for duty at the Asaba end of the River Niger Bridge, who denied them access to the Bridge.

“At that point, the police again warned the crowd several times to disperse, and thereafter released the tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd. The action was confronted with sporadic firing from within the crowd, which followed with simultaneous attacks on the soldiers and policemen with the ulterior aim to disarm and subdue them”.

According to the statement, security operatives responded in self-defence and in line with the rules of minimum force.