Officials of the Department of State Services on Friday raided newspaper vendors in Asaba, the Delta State capital, confiscating all newspapers affiliated with the Biafra movement.
Over 1,000 copies of Biafra-related tabloids – Biafra Times, Biafra Star, Biafra Republic, Biafra Rising Sun, Biafra Voice, Biafra Journal and Biafra Trust – were confiscated.
The activities of the security operatives forced free readers of newspapers to take to their heels.
The DSS operatives said they were obeying a directive from ‘above’ to carry out the assignment, it was learnt.
All major newspaper centres in the city were raided. They included those on Ibusa Road, Nnebisi Road, and Mixed Secondary School area.
The officials did not state their reasons for the raid but onlookers said the development might not be unconnected with recent comments made by the leader of the Independent People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
Vendors located along Summit Road, Okpanam Road, Anwai Road, West-End Road, Abraka and Cable-Point area were not left in the raid.
A newspaper distributor lamented that the raid had put fear on her vendors leading to sharp drop in her sales figure.
She said, “They (DSS officials) were on a dangerous mission. They came with rifles of different shapes and in their usual black-black uniform. I wanted to run but one of them aimed his gun at my leg. At this point, I had to stop. They ransacked my newspapers’ stand and collected all those that have Biafra as their mastheads.”
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