By Okey Sampson, Umuahia
The family of leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu has raised the alarm over alleged heavy military presence at their hometown of Afaraukwu, Umuahia.
Prince Emmanuel Kanu who raised the alarm on behalf of the family yesterday, said for some days now, military personnel have been patrolling their Isiama Afaraukwu community when there was no crisis in the area.
Prince Kanu in a telephone interview claimed that the presence of the soldiers has threwn members of the community into panic mood.
According to younger Kanu, the presence of the soldiers who equally passed through their house heightened the fear of residents and their kinsmen who feared that the soldiers could be carrying out surveillance on their compound.
Although he said nobody had so far been arrested, Kanu however said that they were not comfortable with the presence of the military in the community that is yet to recover from the shock and trauma of 2017 invasion of the community by soldiers.
He claimed that during the invasion, several lives were lost during the invasion.
“We don’t want what happened at Lekki to happen again in our community”, Kanu warned.
He called on the military authorities in the state and the country not to deploy soldiers to the peaceful community to avoid intimidation and harassment of innocent residents and indigenes.
Military authorities in the state has dismissed Kanu’s claim.
A source at the 14Brigade Headquarters who spoke anonymously wondered why Kanu was agitated at the presence of soldiers who were carrying out their legitimate duties.