Onitsha Fire Incident: IPOB says it is a terrorist attack

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has described the fire disaster in Onitsha on Wednesday, October 16, 2019, as a terrorist attack.

The outlawed group in a statement by its Media and Public Secretary, Emma Powerful said the consistency with which such disaster happened in the South-eastern region of the country has shown that there is someone behind it.

The group added that nobody should be deceived that the Onitsha tanker fire disaster was a mere accident.

While sympathising with those who lost their loved ones in the fire, IPOB wondered why ‘trailers brakes only fail in the South-East’ and not other parts of the country, where the owners of such tankers allegedly come from.

Nnamdi Kanu is the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement. The group was outlawed in 2018 following a series of violent protests by the group members. (Punch) AFP

The statement reads in part, “With a profound sense of deep sorrow and sadness we commiserate with all the families and communities that lost loved ones over the terror attack in Onitsha on the 16 October 2019.

“This is not the first time an articulated lorry or a tanker laden with inflammable liquid has been involved in mass fatalities in Onitsha or other parts of Anambra State.

“The story is always the same, its either their trailer had brake failure or their tanker exploded, all resulting in massive loss of lives and destruction of individually owned businesses.

“We the Indigenous People of Biafra call these callous and wicked acts for what it is- a cowardly terrorist attack designed by those evil men determined to exterminate we Biafrans from the face of the earth.”

“This massive loss of lives and businesses in Onitsha is most unwelcome.

“Why must tankers driven by northerners always explode in the south or the brakes of their trailers always fail in Biafraland? It is time now for our people to wake up to this new reality of population reduction.”

On Wednesday, October 16, 2019, a petrol laden tanker rammed into buildings in an Onitsha market, spilled its contents in the neigborhood and sparked a fire that ravaged buildings, consumed goods worth millions of Naira and ended lives.

Firefighters explain why they could not get to the fire scene

The Federal Fire Service (FFS) has said that a mob stopped its men from accessing the scene of Wednesday’s fire incident at Ochanja market in Onitsha, Anambra state.

Ugo Huan, spokesman of the agency, said this in a statement on Thursday, October 17, 2019, said that firefighters from Delta station "headed to the scene but it was not possible to contend with the heavy traffic at the Niger head bridge, coupled with the behaviour of an angry mob who pelted stones at them.

“Thus, it was not possible for the firefighters to get to the scene of fight in such a hostile environment.”

Huan also said that Liman Ibrahim, controller general of the FFS, was deeply saddened by the incident, and has expressed his condolences to the victims and their families.