– Chukwu Ebuka Moses is a 19-year-old student who was shot during a pro-Biafra protest in Aba, the Abia state capital
– He said that the activists were just singing and protesting, when policemen started harassing then, throwing tear gas and shooting guns at the same time
– Stressing that he was not scared, the young man expressed optimism that Biafra would surely pass
– Injured pro-Biafra activists raised alarm over discrimination as they had been turned away from hospitals
“Policemen started harassing us, throwing tear gas and shooting guns at the same time.”
Chukwu Ebuka Moses is a 19-year-old student who has recently joined pro-Biafra movement, Vanguard reports.
Moses is too young to remember the Nigerian civil war, which by its end devastated the southeast, shattering dreams of an independent Biafran homeland.
However, he will never forget the incident that happened to him a few month ago.
On January 18, the student joined the ranks of Biafran war veterans when he was shot during a protest in Aba, the Abia state capital.
Narrating his ordeal, Moses, who is still fragile and limp, said:
“We were just singing and protesting. Policemen started harassing us, throwing tear gas and shooting guns at the same time.”
“I can’t breathe since the bullet shot me. I’m losing strength from my body.”
The young man pulled up his black shorts and showed a penny-sized scar on his inner left thigh. X-rays later revealed that the bullet split his femur in three.
Moses, who like many young men of his age supports Chelsea Football Club and listens to P-Square, joined pro-Biafra protesters just a month before.
The young man is dreaming of securing a good job in a region where unemployment is rampant and there are few opportunities.
“I’m not scared. Biafra must surely pass,” he stated categorically.
Meanwhile, pro-Biafra activists in the region have raised alarm not only over heavy-handed security tactics but also discrimination.
Injured members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have complained that they have been turned away from hospitals.
Chibueze Chukwu, a 40-year-old protestor who in February was shot in the leg, said two hospitals rejected him before he was taken to an IPOB-run clinic.
“They said they were scared of police and army and they won’t treat bullet wounds. If they realise you are an IPOB member you’ll never see light of day again. We live in fear,”he lamented.
Chinedu Iwu, a 26-year-old driver, said he was shot in the knee by a soldier who was standing just a few metres away.
“He squatted down. He’s looking at me, I’m looking at him, then he shot me.”
“They are not here to protect us. They are here to finish us. I need my freedom,” he said.
According to IPOB and its supporters, nothing has changed since the civil war when Nigeria blockaded the self-proclaimed Republic of Biafra into submission, and about one million people died from starvation and disease.
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