Markets closed, streets quiet as sit-at-home lingers in South-East

The cancellation of the Monday sit-at-home order by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) failed to restore normal activities across the South-East on Monday, as residents and businesses largely stayed away from work.

Despite IPOB’s announcement over the weekend that the weekly shutdown had been lifted, investigations showed that schools, offices, markets, and motor parks remained closed in many parts of the region.

IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, said only the unconditional release of the group’s detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu, would bring full normalcy to Mondays in the South-East.

IPOB had announced on Sunday that it had officially ended the sit-at-home order, which began about five years ago, and urged residents to resume their normal Monday activities.

Powerful said the directive came from Kanu, who is currently in detention after being sentenced to life imprisonment last year on terrorism-related charges and is being held in a correctional facility in Sokoto State.

However, in Aba, Abia State, schools, offices, and major markets such as Ariaria and Ahia Ohuru remained shut, even though market gates were opened. Traders and customers were largely absent.

Federal government workers, who have not reported to work on Mondays since the sit-at-home began in August 2021, also stayed away from their offices. Motor parks across the region that usually do not operate on Mondays remained closed.

Some traders said fear and insecurity were responsible for the continued shutdown. A trader at Ahia Ohuru market, Uchenna Eze, said a public announcement alone was not enough to end the sit-at-home.

A school proprietor, Ikedieze Ohabughiro, said people would only resume normal activities when Kanu is released and seen freely moving in the region.

In Enugu, a book dealer at Ogbete market, Vincent Eke, said he stopped opening his shop on Mondays after receiving threats warning him to comply with the sit-at-home order.

He said market leaders advised traders to be cautious after several similar reports.
Another trader, Collins Igwebuike, said persistent insecurity had forced many residents to remain indoors on Mondays.

The Executive Director of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Ibuchukwu Ezike, said many residents now observe the sit-at-home voluntarily, adding that governments in the region must regain public trust. He noted that the continued detention of Kanu remained the central issue.

Meanwhile, Powerful said some parts of the South-East remained under voluntary lockdown in solidarity with Kanu, stressing that IPOB was no longer enforcing the sit-at-home.

He said residents were free to decide how they spend their Mondays and that no one would be attacked for carrying out lawful activities.