By Iheanyi Enwerem
Despite announcement by various governments in the South East of Nigeria ordering that citizens should go about with their normal businesses on May 30, usually observed in the region as Biafra Day, there are indications that in many State capitals in the former Eastern region, many citizens are afraid to open their shops despite security assurances for their protection. In Owerri, Imo State capital, the situation is not different. Our Correspondent who was at the Imsu junction along the busy Okigwe road said that the road was almost deserted of vehicular movement while almost all shops were locked for fear of being attacked by hoodlums, although security operatives were in patrol.
The same scenario was witnessed at Toronto junction Mcc/Uratta road, popular Douglas, Wetheral, Port Harcourt, Onitsha among other roads in Owerri Metropolis, although as at going to press there is no reported case of attack in the capital territory.
Ikoro Okigwe gathered also that students writing West African Examination Council,WAEC, in the State, where not absent, as we visited some of the schools, like Federal Girls College Owerri, and Owerri City School, among others. They started their first paper at 9am and ended all papers at 5pm.
A pedestrian who identified his name as Emma Okolie, and granted a brief interview to our reporter, said that the Biafra Day could have been allowed to remain,not as a republican day in Nigeria, but as a memorial day in honour of Late Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, whom many in the South-East admired for his courage in leadership while alive.
