Commercial activities were paralysed on Saturday
in
Anambra State following protests by traders
across the
state.
The traders, who closed their shops as early as
9am in
major cities of Onitsha, Awka, Nnewi, Ekwulobia
and
Agulu, took to the streets protesting what they
termed
plan by the Federal Government to transfer Boko
Haram
detainees to prisons in the state.
At Tarzan junction, Nkpor in Idemili North Local
Government Area of the state, traders and other
residents blocked the Enugu – Onitsha Expressway
chanting songs suggesting they would be forced to
revive the clamour for Biafran Republic if pushed
to the
wall.
The traders carried placards bearing inscriptions
like
‘Buhari should not destroy the peace in Anambra
State,’
‘Biafra kanyi choro’ (We want Biafra), ‘Buhari,
Igbos
cannot accept your prisoners, ‘We do not want
Boko
Haram in Anambra,’ ‘Federal Government, why
extend
Boko Haram to Anambra?’ and ‘Boko Haram
prisoners
are not allowed here.’
Speaking with journalists during the protests, the
Secretary-General, Anambra State Amalgamated
Traders
Association, Chief Chuma Elucharu, stated that
traders in
the state decided to shut markets to protest the
rumoured relocation of Boko Haram detainees to
the
state.
Eluchraru said the protests would be continuous
until
the Federal Government assured that there was no
such
plan.
At Onitsha, the protesters threatened to be violent
should the rumour proved to be true.
There was tension as police used tear gas to
disperse the
protesters.
While addressing the traders, the President-
General of
AMATAAS, Chief Okwudili Ezenwankwo, urged
them to
be calm, saying further consultation would be
made by
the association to get clear picture of the situation.
Also, the Police Public Relations Officer in the
state, Mr.
Uche Eze, said there was no need to panic, nothing
that
the police were handling the situation.
Eze enjoined the people of the state to go about
their
businesses without fear of molestation.
A senior officer in the Nigerian Prisons Service in
the
state who spoke on the condition of anonymity to
our
correspondent, however, said they got a signal
recently
to prepare to receive some detainees of the violent
sect.
But the Nigeria Prisons Service has said there is
no plan
to transfer Boko Haram suspects in custody to
prisons in
Anambra State as being speculated.
The NPS Public Relations Officer, Francis Enebore,
said
most of the terror suspects in prison custody are
still
awaiting trial and cannot be moved out of the
jurisdiction of the court where they would be
prosecuted.
He dismissed speculations that the prison
authorities
had formalised plans to transfer terror suspects
from
the northern states to Anambra State, saying there
is
nothing like that.
Enebore said, “Most of the terror suspects are
awaiting
trial and so, there is no way they can be moved to
another state because they must be tried in the
state
where they committed the crime.
“Apart from this, our duty is to move them from
prison
to court for trial and since they have not been
convicted, how can we transfer them to other
states
outside the jurisdiction of the court where they
would
be tried? People are just saying things they know
nothing about, there is no truth to the rumours that
we
are transferring terror suspects to other states.”
