After last week’s face – off between Governor Chukwuma Soludo and Onitsha traders over the weekly Monday sit at home, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has clarified that the February 2 lockdown was a one off action in response to what it called the dictatorial posture of the Anambra governor.
In an interview with Saturday Vanguard, IPOB spokesman, Emma Powerful, recalled that the weekly total lockdown of social and economic activities on Mondays started on August 9, 2021 in the South East region to demand the freedom of its incarcerated leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who was then in the custody of the Department of State Services, DSS.
According to Powerful, because of its negative impact on the economy of Ndigbo, after a period of total compliance, Kanu, from detention, ordered its total cancellation.
“The cancellation was hailed, as many people commended IPOB for listening to the yearnings of Ndigbo. IPOB did not only announce its cancellation, but it issued repeatedly, press statements canceling it, and disassociated itself from the hoodlums who, in the name of enforcing sit-at-home, were robbing and terrorizing people”, Powerful said .
He added: “It is only haters of IPOB and Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, that will associate IPOB with those illegal Monday sit-at-home, after its cancellation by Mazi Kanu
“IPOB, no doubt, declared sit-at-home some of the days Mazi Nnamdi Kanu went to court and Ndigbo, particularly traders, complied without complain, in solidarity.
“To keep the records straight, the sit-at-home observed last Monday February 2, 2026 in parts of Onitsha, was a one-off reaction to the increasingly dictatorial posture and behaviour of Governor Chukwuma Soludo, it was not a policy shift by IPOB.
“To that end, asking IPOB or any of its members, including me, Emma Powerful, how we feel about Igbo people losing one day every working week, should not arise because IPOB has been at the fore front on the battle to stop Monday weekly sit-at-home.
“No one takes joy in sit-at-home actions, let alone the Indigenous People of Biafra, whose members are mostly traders, artisans, transporters, and small business owners who depend on daily economic activity to live.
“However, when a sitting Igbo Governor chooses to threaten his own people with demolition and bulldozers, at a time when Igbo businesses and homes are already being destroyed in Lagos, Sokoto, Abuja, and across Nigeria using the same language of intimidation, it becomes necessary for our people to register their displeasure.
“The duty of an elected Igbo governor is to protect his people, not to traumatize them at the slightest provocation.
“Where was the Governor all these years that we have been battling the people the man in Finland was using to cause confusion in Igbo land? Is it in last January, few days ago that Soludo realized that weekly Monday sit-at-home is still going on? Why did he not remember it when he was campaigning for reelection that sit-at-home is still being observed and must be stopped for traders to go back to their businesses on Mondays?
“We are aware that there are people, including Ndigbo, who, no matter how you convince them to believe that IPOB did not sanction weekly Monday sit-at-home, they will not believe you because their minds are made up that there is nothing good that will come from IPOB, but such people are few in numbers and we do not care about how they feel about us.
“Let it be clearly stated: Monday sit-at-home is not something anybody likes, but it must be approached with respect for those who, out of conscience, choice and sympathy for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, choose to express their anger over the continued illegal detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Threatening citizens for peaceful expressions only deepens resentment and mistrust.”
Powerful said IPOB is also aware that the South-East Governors’ Forum does not want Mazi Nnamdi Kanu released, describing such posture as irrational and unfounded.
“Has Mazi Nnamdi Kanu ever dabbled in local or regional politics? The answer is a resounding no. So why this desperation? Why the active support for his conviction and sentencing without any proof that a crime was committed?”, he asked.
“It is indisputable that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu ended sit-at-home long ago. From this weekend onward, it will be made clear that sit at home will not be enforced.
“IPOB does not want Ndigbo and Igbo traders harassed, threatened, or coerced for exercising their lawful right to open their businesses”, he stated.
Powerful said the way forward is dialogue, justice, and respect for the rule of law, not intimidation, propaganda, or collective punishment of the people, adding”It is not about IPOB, it is about the way Ndigbo are feeling against injustices meted against them”
Speaking on the same issue, a human rights lawyer, Dr Jezie Ekejiuba, called for dialogue, stressing that nobody supports sit at home.
He said: “Traders dislike Monday sit at home and the reason they stay at home on Mondays is because of insecurity.
“Buyers (customers) don”t come to the market on Mondays because of insecurity. It takes two parties to transact trading business of buying and selling.So if the government forces the defenceless sellers to open Onitsha Main Market on Mondays, let the buyers be also forced to leave their various private homes in Cameroon, Northern,Western and Mid-Western Nigeria to come and buy from the sellers.
“Let the government also force the transport operators to.open for business on Mondays. Let the roads no longer be deserted. Let the government force the banks to open for Monday business.
“Civil servants in Anambra State are also sitting at home on Mondays, let them be forced to work on Mondays or be dismissed. Let schools be forced to open on Mondays too. The Judicial staff are also absent from Courtrooms on Mondays: Let them be also forced to open on Mondays.
“What have the private traders done to warrant this discrimination against them and forced against their freewill to open on Mondays?”
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