As pro-Biafra protests continue to spread in different parts of South East Nigeria, the army warned on 13 November that it will use force to quell the protests, if deployed. The acting director, army public relations Colonel Sani Usman warned members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) not to test the will of the Nigerian army to deal decisively with the protests. They also cautioned soldiers not to take sides in the protests, warning that any soldier showing sympathies for the protests will be dealt with appropriately.

The statement came as protests from pro-Biafra demonstrators’ grounded activities in Port Harcourt (Rivers State) on 10 November. There were also protests in Owerri, the capital of Imo State on 12 November calling for the release of Nnamdi Kanu the leader of IPOB whose arrest and continuous detention sparked the initial protests (see Nigeria Politics & Security – 09.11.2015). Governors from the South East and Igbo cultural group Ohaneze have scheduled a meeting for 17 November to discuss the protests and look for ways to douse the rising tension in the region. The meeting was initiated by the governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, who is the only APC governor in the South East and South South. Buhari will be counting on him to help calm nerves in the region, which is reacting to a perception of marginalisation and neglect fueled by numerous conspiracy theories.

Governors meeting unlikely to resolve the issue

It is doubtful that the meeting will have any salutary impact on the protests as the PDP governors, who dominate the region, may subtly consider the protests to be in their own political interests as it paints the ruling APC government in a bad light in the region and can help prolong their time in power. Besides this, the unwillingness of the security agencies to release the previously unknown Kanu will continue to fuel the protests. Kanu’s parents told the media on 14 November that they are unsure if he is still alive, while calling on the government to free him.

Kanu’s lawyer, Vincent Egechukwu, said on 13 November that the pro-Biafra agitator is alive and well in the custody of Department of State Security (DSS) in Abuja, despite three separate court orders asking that he should be granted bail. It is not clear how the Buhari government ultimately plans to deal with the current protests and the continuous detention of Kanu but it is important to note that the death of Mohammed Yussuf, the then leader of Boko Haram in police custody, was what eventually drove Boko Haram underground and turned them into a deadly terrorist organisation.