Police Arrest 100 Suspected MASSOB Members In Bayelsa

There was palpable tension at a popu­lar motor park in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, as Police authori­ties in the state yesterday arrested over 100 suspect­ed members of the Move­ment for the

Actualization of the Sovereign States of Biafra (MASSOB), who in­vaded the park. Saturday Mirror gath­ered that some youths started gathering yester­day at the popular Ekeki Motor Park, Yenagoa, at
about 11am with the in­tention of embarking and extending the peaceful protest to Bayelsa State.
According to eye wit­ness account, it was re­vealed that the motor park was suddenly taken over by unknown faces which made the park operators and other traders around the motor park to become apprehensive, and began asking questions and alert the police authori­ties which eventually led to the arrest of the intrud­ers. According to the eye­witness account, “We were here this morning as usual, looking for passen­gers when suddenly some group of youths in threes, fours and fives started trooping in to the park, but a look at the way they were dressed showed us that all is not well, especially with their movements. Initial­ly, we thought they were Boko Haram boys due to their shabby dressing, but when we interacted with them, we realized they were Ibos, though they did not disclose their mission to us.''However, it was learnt that some of the park boys quickly alerted the police, leading to the arrest of the boys, who did not resist. When contacted for comments, the Chairman of Ohaneze Ndigbo in Bayelsa State, Chief Ok­wudilichukwu Oko, said he would not want to com­ment on the matter, but if the arrested suspected MASSOB supporters calls on him, he would definite­ly have a word to tell them.Confirming the arrest, the Bayelsa State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Butswat Asimi­ni, said some persons who were suspected to be sup­porters of MASSOB were arrested on entry into Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State.He said they were 78 males and 5 females, and were wearing clothes with MASSOB inscriptions written on them which made the police to suspect they were MASSOB mem­bers entering the state capital from other states.It would be recalled that many states in the South, especially the South East had declared their inten­tion to have a peaceful demonstration to regis­ter their grievances over the continued arrest and detention of the host of the Biafra Radio, Nnamdi Kalu.