- Bloody clash between police, Biafra separatists over symbolic declaration of independence
- Five Express Oil workers kidnapped by ‘militant youths’ in Nigeria
According to Percy Bysshe Shelley, history is a cyclic poem written by time upon the memories of man.
History does not follow a straight line. Because of the circumstances that shaped it, no history can be perfectly straight. Every noteworthy event or condition needs to be recorded, yet doing so denies history the incredibly rare chance to be correct.
In an effort to promote educational and enlightenment goals, especially by bringing notable historical events to people’s doorsteps, WITHIN NIGERIA highlighted two notable events that occurred on March 29 in Nigeria history.
Bloody clash between police, Biafra separatists over symbolic declaration of independence
On this day, March 29 in 2003, at least seven members of a group campaigning for an independent Biafra were killed on Saturday in southeast Nigeria during a confrontation with the police.
According to reports, more than 5,000 members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) were travelling in a convoy of about 130 cars and buses to a rally when they were confronted by heavily armed police at Umololo village in Imo State.
“There was an argument and then a fight and the police shot dead seven people,” Ray Onyeukwu, who said he witnessed the incident, told IRIN.
The chief of police in Imo State, Ben Eghomone, confirmed the death of the seven and told reporters they had attempted to disarm the police.
“Will the police stand and wait to be disarmed?” he said. But MASSOB said in a statement on Monday the police had opened fire unprovoked on their convoy of vehicles, killing 50 members.
The group’s leader, Ralph Uwazuruike, and 300 other members were subsequently arrested and taken into custody, the statement said.
Uwazuruike founded MASSOB in 1999 with the aim of reviving the 1967 secession of southeastern Nigeria – dominated by the Ibo ethnic group – as Biafra, which resulted in the three years of civil war.
More than one million people died in the war, mostly from starvation. Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, who as a colonel in the Nigerian army declared Biafra, ran for the presidency on April 19 as the candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance party.
After Biafra’s defeat in 1970, Ojukwu fled into exile in Ivory Coast, but returned in 1981 after he was granted a state pardon. While Ibo nationalism and complaints of unfair treatment by successive regimes since the end of the civil war feature prominently in his campaign, Ojukwu has distanced himself from Uwazuruike’s movement, which has frequent run-ins with the authorities.
The leader of the failed Biafra state, Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, a leading opposition politician, lost in the April, 2003, presidential elections that were widely alleged to have been rigged.
Five Express Oil workers kidnapped by ‘militant youths’ in Nigeria
On this day, 29th of March in 2008, five employees of Express Oil were seized by angry youths in Ondo state over the company’s failure to pay royalties for its operations in the area.
According to report, atleast 60 youths belonging to the Express/Shebah Oil Communities swarmed the platform at the OML 108 Ukpakiti oil field. The armed mob used eight speed boats to surround the platform and force the five workers into submission.
The self-proclaimed leader of the group, Akikanju Olaiku, stated that “‘serious harm will befall the victims if government and the oil company did not negotiate with us, because we are prepared for a long-drawn battle.'”
The workers, all Nigerian nationals, were said by the leader to be in good condition, despite the abduction.