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June 19, 2006
Troops deploy across Nigeria city
Troops have been deployed in the south-east Nigerian city of Onitsha after clashes with a banned separatist Biafran movement and police.
The Anambra state authorities announced a curfew and crackdown after several people were reported killed on Friday.
The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (Massob) campaigns for secession for the area.
Ethnic Igbos in the south-east fought to break away from the rest of Nigeria during a civil war from 1967-70.
Police denied there had been any deaths in the clashes, but a separatist Biafran group said eight of its members were killed.
Residents told the BBC two police stations were burned down and two armoured cars were set ablaze when crowds went on the rampage on Friday.
The Massob group said on Thursday seven of its members died in a police raid on one of its meetings outside Onitsha.
Massob's founder and leader Ralph Uwazuruike and some of his followers are in jail facing treason charges.
A dusk-to-dawn curfew has also been imposed with Anambra Governor Peter Obi asking President Olusegun Obasanjo to intervene, saying it was a potential threat to national security.
Posted by Publisher at June 19, 2006 12:55 PM
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