Photo: Biafra Fans
Mixed feelings were evoked as fans displayed Biafran flag at the Leopold Sedar Senghor stadium in Dakar, the country’s capital, during Nigeria’s match with Algeria.
Senegalese FA officials said the group took advantage of the presence of the media at the stadium to raise the Biafran flag.
Dressed in T-shirts with the Biafra logo, eye witnesses said the group “invaded” the left wing of the covered pavilion to flaunt the Biafran flag.
They later displayed a large flag calling for Biafran autonomy.
Amadou Kane, the Vice President of the Senegalese Football Federation, FSF, ordered the flags and all their banners to be torn down, and the supporters involved to be expelled from the stadium.
The movement for the declaration of the Eastern part of Nigeria as a sovereign state called the Republic of Biafra was what led to the Nigerian Civil War between 1967 and 1970.
Pro-Biafra protests have intensified in the Eastern part of Nigeria in the past two months, and the Senegalese authorities took the display of the flags as a “militant act.”
The match eventually ended 0-0 with Nigeria coming second in Group B with five points, behind Algeria.
Nigeria will face Senegal in the semi-final next week while Algeria will battle South Africa.
[Source: IgbereTV]