'Soldiers shot Biafra protesters in the back,' Amnesty International

Witnesses told Amnesty that at least 40 people were killed in the clashes, and the human rights organization said it was able to confirm at least 17 deaths and 50 people wounded.
"The group called for urgent and independent investigations into what they described as extra judicial killings tasking further that "... anyone suspected of criminal responsibility must be brought to justice". "In one incident one person was shot dead after the authorities burst in on them while they slept", said M.K. Ibrahim, Country Director of Amnesty International Nigeria.
Amnesty International on Friday claimed the Nigerian military shot dead unarmed civilians before a march to mark the anniversary of the 1967 Biafran declaration of independence.
The indigenous people of Biafra movement (IPOB) has never stopped demanding the secession of this region mainly populated Igbo, one of three major ethnic groups in Nigeria, aggrieved by the central government in terms of infrastructure, health and education.
The human rights organisation said that based on visits to hospitals and mortuaries at least 17 were killed and almost 50 injured in Onitsha alone.
However, the statement said Amnesty International has seen no evidence that the killings were necessary to protect life, saying that although the police also claim that IPOB supporters killed two policemen the next day in neighbouring Asaba, Delta state, which Amnesty International can not confirm.
Secessionist feeling has simmered in the southeast since the Biafra separatist rebellion tipped Nigeria into a 1967-70 civil war that killed an estimated 1 million people.
The Nigerian army has said in a statement that they acted in self-defence, and five IPOB members were killed.
Kanu remains in detention and is facing charges of treasonable felony, which he denies.
Amnesty International said protesters were "unarmed", contrary to claims by security agencies that at least two policemen had been killed by armed protesters and that they had to respond with force only for the sake of maintaining public peace.
"However, such killings would not substantiate the army's argument they acted in self-defence", the body said.
Another said soldiers stormed a church where protesters were sleeping the night before the march and let off teargas, while another said he saw a young boy shot dead as he had his hands up. He immediately raised his hands, but the soldiers opened fire...
Similar claims have been made against the military in operations against a Shiite Muslim group in December a year ago, when at least 350 protesters were said to have been shot dead and buried.