Posted by BBC News on
The home of Nigeria's late first post-independence president has been burnt down during a protest by Biafran separatists in the south-east.
The home of Nigeria's late first post-independence president has been burnt down during a protest by Biafran separatists in the south-east.
They were demonstrating in the city of Onitsha against the arrest last month of their leader, Ralph Uwazurike.
His outlawed organisation, Massob, wants a separate state, Biafra, for the Igbo people in the south-east.
The BBC's Chukwujama Eze in Enugu says Massob denies starting the fire and it is unclear if there are injuries.
There are reports of gunshots being heard.
The demonstration brought chaos to much of the city and major roads were blocked, our correspondent says.
Other Massob demonstrations were held across eastern Nigeria on Monday, he says.
The late Nnamdi Azikiwe, who was president from 1963 to1966, is a revered figure among most Ibgo, Reuters reports.
The Igbo fought to break away from the rest of Nigeria during a three-year civil war that ended in 1970.
The Movement for the Actualisation of a Sovereign State of Biafra (Massob) was banned three years ago. It says it is pursuing its objectives peacefully.
Several Massob members have died in the last three years in clashes with the police in south-eastern Nigeria, where it draws the bulk of its support.
The government is intolerant of its existence because it revives memories of the horrors of the Biafran war, in which one million people died.