About 10,000 members of the Catholic Church staged...

About 10,000 members of the Catholic Church staged a protest in Enugu Sate after 14 worshippers died at the Government Technical College (GTC) on March 7 after a religious function. The protesters claimed that the state government had used poison gas against Rev. Father Ejike Mbaka because of his critical views against the state. They also protested the arrest and detention of the Vicar-General of the Church, Rev. (Prof.) Obiora Ike, describing it as sacrilegious and a threat to peace in the state. The protest lasted over two hours as anti-riot policemen patrolled major streets to avert trouble.
A coalition of the PDP, APP, Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) and the Association of Retired Civil Servants in the state condemned the death of the 14 worshippers and alleged that government used poison gas on the victims. Addressing a joint news conference in Enugu, coalition spokesmen Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, former National Secretary of the PDP, and Navy Commodore Anthony Oguguo, the former military governor of Imo State, rejected a commission set up by the state government to probe the incident and urged the Federal Government to step into the problem.