One feared killed as IPOB rally for Trump disrupts business activities in Rivers

Business activities were on Friday disrupted at the Artillery area of Port Harcourt, Rivers State following the solidarity march by the Indigenous People of Biafra.
The IPOB group, dressed in black and red attire with the defunct Biafran flag, marched in batches from Oyigbo and Aba roads to the Government House area, causing traffic jam on the busy road.
The group said the march was to show solidarity to the US President Donald Trump as he was being inaugurated.
One person was, however, feared killed when those engaged in the march confronted the police.
As many as over 50 were said to have been injured.
The News Agency of Nigeria learnt that the trouble reached its peak when a batch of the protesters had an encounter with the police at Okporo Road in the Artillery area.
An eye­­witness, Roland Joseph, claimed that the fracas started when the group carried a corpse to Okporo Police Station, alleging that the police killed the victim.
Joseph said that as they were approaching the police station, the police reacted by shooting teargas to disperse them.
Joseph said: “This caused serious confusion. Shops closed; people ran helter skelter and tension built up.”
Emekah Uduma, another eyewitness, corroborated Joseph’s view, adding that the police needed to disperse the large crowds by shooting the teargas.
Uduma said: “The police started shooting to scare the crowds away from blocking the station and the major road, a lot of people sustained injuries and some shop owners were forced to lock their shops.”
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Nnamdi Omoni, told NAN that nobody was killed by police.
Omoni said: “No, I am not aware that any Biafran protester was killed today.
“I’m yet to get the information.”