The Abia State Police Command has beefed up security in Aba to forestall attempts by any group to cause a breach of peace.
This followed news of a planned protest by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) to pressurise the Federal Government to release their leader Nnamdi Kanu. Kanu has been in detention since last October.
Sources within the police command said daily patrols have become necessary to forestall a recurrence of last Monday’s protests.
The source said the groups had concluded plans to bring their members from neighbouring states to carry out the protest.
The police will be working with sister agencies- the Army, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), among others, and officers from over 10 divisions under the Aba Area Command, have been deployed for the operation.
A visit round the metropolis showed police vans stationed at different locations, including St. Michael’s by Mosque, Hospital road by Mosque, Azikiwe road by Asa, Port Harcourt road, Waterside etc., while others moved round the city.
“You know that apart from Onitsha, Aba is the next place with large sympathisers for the Biafra Movement and so, we are not taking chances after what happened previously. We are being proactive rather than coming in when things must have gone wrong,” the source said.
Commissioner of Police Habila Joshak said in a text message: “We do not want the peace of a city moving towards industrialisation to be disturbed. Visibility policing will ensure the safety of lives and property.”