The Sit-at-home order issued for today, Monday by the Indigenous People of Biafra, which is fighting for self-determination for southeastern Nigeria, has disrupted business and economic activities across the five states in the region.
IPOB gave the sit-at-home order to protest the detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, its leader who is currently incarcerated by the Department of State Services following his re-arrest in Kenya last month. The order will be observed every Monday until Kanu is released from detention, IPOB has said.
IPOB had warned that those who defied the order would be dealt with.
From Aba in Abia; Orlu and Owerri in Imo, to Onitsha in Anambra States, the no-movement instruction issued by the separatist movement has led to a shutdown of markets, shops, and other centres of economic activities across the major cities in the region, according to findings by Huhuonline.
In some places where residents dared to venture out, they are doing so with trepidation, some of them said.
The paralysis of activities came despite assurances by the state governments and Commissioners of Police, that people should go about their legitimate businesses despite the order.
In Anambra, Governor Willie Obiano assured residents of the government’s preparedness to protect them, and warned that workers who stayed away from offices would not be paid for the day.
That perhaps encouraged banks and some shop owners to open for business in Awka, the state capital.
“People are as usual anxious and afraid, as they try to come out,” said a resident by phone. “As you can hear the noise in the background. I went to the bank and now I am in a shop,” he said.
But not everyone in the state believes the governor’s assurance. One of such persons is this man who is stranded in the state, unable to travel to Umuahia, Abia State capital.
Sit-at-home orders present opportunities for hoodlums to unleash terror on citizens, he said.
“I will drive on lonely roads to Umuahia. If I meet hoodlums on the road and they shoot at me, what would I say?” he asked.
He describes the situation as a war condition, where you don’t know who you are dealing with. You don’t know who to refer to.
“The governor says you should not obey IPOB, if they burn my car, would I go to the governor and tell him that I was obeying him and they burnt my car?” he asked. He wouldn’t even give you an audience. So what do you do?”
It is the same as Orlu, the Imo State town that has been the hotbed of the crisis in the state. “People are afraid,” an accountant said an accountant who is trapped in the town by phone. “Even my brother who wants to go to Owerri is sitting at home,” he added.
According to him, people who came from Anara, in the same state, said they met only one or two bikes (motorcycles) on the way. There were vehicles, they said.
“There are two governments here: ESN and (Hope) Uzodinma’s government, and the ESN seems to be more powerful than the governor,” the accountant added.
On Sunday, Imo State Commissioner of Police, Abutu Yaro had asked citizens to go about their lawful duties on Monday.
“He advised Imolites to come out on Monday en masse and go about their lawful businesses, bearing in mind that Imo state the economy is driven by individual contributions and it is from the various daily activities they put food on the table,” the State Police command said in a statement on Sunday.
“The Commissioner of Police then directed that any person(s) who come out on that day to enforce any illegal order that is not from a legitimate authority should be resisted in its entirety by the good people of Imo State and they will be supported by security agencies. As they already achieved peace being enjoyed by all and sundry remains sacrosanct.”
In Aba, the commercial hub in the southeast, shops, and markets are closed in compliance with the sit-at-home instruction from IPOB, said a tailor.
“I did not open my shop today because of IPOB,” he said by phone from the Enyimba City, also known as the Taiwan of Africa.
