Biafra: From Umuahia, Abia State; to Port Harcourt, Rivers State; and then to Jos, Plateau State. Here’s what the Nigeria Police is doing to ensure violence does not spread across Nigeria

Mr. Ibrahim Idris, the Inspector-General of Police, on Thursday, told State House Correspondents that the police are doing everything possible to ensure that the country is at peace following the outbreak of violence in Abia State.

Idris was at the Presidential Villa to brief Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on the violence in Abia.

“The strategy we are using is to ensure that we deploy policemen throughout the country. He said

“Secondly, we are in touch with the government.

“We are trying to mobilise the political leadership to be able to intervene where necessary in how to reduce the tension that is already taking place in the South-east.”

The unrest started on Sunday following the Operation Python Dance II military procession in Umuahia, the capital of Abia State.

IPOB members alleged that they were attacked by soldiers on that day. The Nigerian Army however denied the accusation, saying that suspected IPOB militants threw stones and bottles at them.

Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris
Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris
On Monday, it was confirmed that some soldiers attacked the NUJ Secretariat in Umuahia, destroying the phones, electronic devices and cameras of some journalists.

The unrest spread down to Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, where a police sergeant was allegedly killed in a clash between IPOB members and the police.

Also, on Tuesday morning, suspected members of IPOB attacked a police station in Aba, the commercial city of Abia State, burnt down the station and injured an officer.

Yesterday in Jos, the Plateau State capital, violence almost broke out between suspected Hausa and Igbo people. The situation is however already calm as the state governor, Simon Lalong, had already imposed curfew in the state.

Regarding an allegation by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State who said that the police were behind criminal activities in the state, the IG noted that Wike was only expressing his own personal opinion on the security situation in Rivers. He however noted that Wike’s allegation does not make sense.

He added that the display of a corpse purported to be that of a police did not indicate that the policeman was involved in the crime.