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| A Biafran mother recounts her ordeal with the Nigerian Military |
By Ifeanyi Chijioke
Twitter: @Biafrapost
December 07, 2016
On a plastic cushion chair, sitting at the corridor of her home with the obvious scar of the bullet injury at the bottom-side of her left shin; she looked refreshed and calmed. She would glance at me now and then; making sure I take note of the scar. She had just finished answering a call from her business partner and said “I now produce herbal drugs; my family survive on that, I walk with my legs and the struggle for Biafra restoration continues, I am ready to embark on another protest”
She is one of the women who were attacked by Nigerian military at Awka; they had gone to Awka carrying placards to beg Governor Obiano to talk to the President of Nigeria to release their son. At that moment Nnamdi Kanu had not spent up to two months in detention; they were filled with brimming confidence that nothing will happen to them. “As mothers; we thought the Governor or President would not unleash the military against us. We decided to go and tell the Governor what we want” she said mildly to this reporter.
The passion was red; they had mobilized other women and decided to show that what men can do, women can do it better. They took off from Onitsha and other women met them at Awka; then Anambra women wing of IPOB was complete. They were carrying placards and singing praises to God; joy overshadowed them, it was fun singing and being watched by people. They were proud to be called freedom fighters; fearless as they marched on.
They had passed the busy junction of Aroma and still heading to the Government house; they can already hear the sound of the siren approaching; they were not being trailed or guarded as it was supposed to be; the siren was coming against them but they were never perturbed.
“The police started coming and the environment was becoming tensed; we were not afraid because we are sure nobody was going to shoot group of women. We are mothers and those that would shoot have their own mothers; so for this, we sojourned on and while the police was closing in on us, we got motivated because we thought they know we can’t cause any security threat or violence.”
She said they were still on their way when the squad of policemen stopped them; they asked where they were going and they said they want to meet the Governor on behalf of Nnamdi Kanu. The policemen urged them to wait while they interact over the phone. They were probably calling the Governor or their commanders to tell them what the women are protesting for and maybe to enquire if to leave them or hold them.
“They stopped us and asked us where we are going; we said Government House and they obstructed us. They started making calls as more policemen started coming; we watched them as they cluster, looking so mean and agile. We were still confident that we will only talk with them; nobody expected that they would shoot us for any reason. How can we be attacked when we were just carrying placards- aged mothers; we never imagined that”
That afternoon was very hot and the Policemen had stopped them under the sun; waiting for directives. “Then another army squad came and without asking us any further question; they opened fire on us, shooting sporadically. We did not lose any life because they lowered their guns to target our legs; by the time the trigger was anchored, everybody ran away and I ran alongside my colleagues only to fall in a distance. I found out I have been shot and my leg bleeding profusely”
They ran in different directions and so she could not give account of how many people were shot out-rightly; she found out that she could no longer walk as she fell on the ground. Luckily, she had run to an open environment; people saw her and came to her aid. “They stopped blood from flowing by tying a piece around the bullet injury; that helped me a lot because it stopped the flow of blood, I could have bled to death” she narrated.
After the incident; she explained how life became really tough for her, she could not believe that such thing happened to her, she had thought of waning, but being a freedom fighter, the spirit was in her. She was taken to a hospital and being treated by IPOB; but she was afraid that she would lose her leg; she sued to privately treat herself and she was discharged from the Hospital. “I decided to tell IPOB to halt their treatment of me; many victims were already there for them. I also decided to give my leg intensive care; I left the hospital I was being taken care of and out of fear, I spent so much money because I don’t want to take any risk, losing my leg will be a massive blow” she narrated.
She got treated and didn’t wait for her complete healing before heading to the Court in solidarity with Nnamdi Kanu, which outlines her passion for what she believes. “I did not wait so much; while the leg was in a healing stage; I went to Abuja with it. I sat close to Nnamdi Kanu and communicated with him; he is my hero, and I was so happy meeting him. The DSS know me; they would call me Mama Nnamdi Kanu and allow me in, I would eventually go into the Court even though they don’t want me”
She however, noted that life is now fair and struggle for Biafra restoration going fluently but hinted that she would tell Nnamdi Kanu her story. She also noted that she had received calls from IPOB abroad and message sent to her through some people but the message was not delivered to her. “I have spent so much on myself and for the struggle; I will tell Nnamdi Kanu my story someday” she hopefully said.
Editor/Publisher: Chinwe Korie
Please follow me on twitter via @ckorie17
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