There was palpable fear in Isiama Afaraukwu community in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State when some men dressed in military wears and came in military marked patrol vans stormed the country home of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, on Sunday afternoon.
This was coming barely two weeks to the burial of parents of Kanu; HRH Eze Israel Okwu Kanu and Ugoeze Sally Kanu, scheduled to hold on the 14th of February.
Reports that emerged from the community has it that soldiers reportedly blocked all roads leading to the Palace Kanu’s compound.
Sources said that about nine military vans were spotted with soldiers blocking all the roads leading to the home of the IPOB Leader.
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Eyewitnesses said that shops that opened for minor businesses, on Sunday, were forced to shut down as every nearby streets and major roads became deserted as fear gripped residents.
The younger brother to the IPOB leader, Prince Emmanuel Kanu in a telephone interview confirmed the presence of the soldiers in the community and roads leading to the palace.
Younger Kanu also told our reporter that residents, road users and visitors who tried to make use of the road leading to the palace on sighting the heavy military presence turned back.
The 14 Brigade Public Relations Officer, Capt Iliya Daudu couldn’t be reached, but a military source in Umuahia dismissed report of the invasion.
The source who pleaded anonymity disclosed that the soldiers who were in a Hilux were on a routine patrol and couldn’t have gone to the Afaraukwu community to create fears in the mind of innocent citizens.
According to the source, IPOB is known as a propagandist group who wants to create bad impression about the military.
The source maintained that no amount of propaganda from the IPOB group which the source said remained outlawed group, can distract the military from performing their constitutional roles which includes, making sure that Abia is safe for residents and its citizens.