-Don’t Intimidate Residents Observing Monday Sit-At-Home
October 16, 2024
By Samuel Ogunsona
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has warned Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State against intimidating residents who voluntarily participate in the Monday sit-at-home exercise.
This exercise, according to IPOB, is a peaceful protest demanding the release of their detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
In a statement released by IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, the group emphasized that the sit-at-home exercise is a demonstration of the deep affection and solidarity people of the South-East, particularly those in Igboland and the diaspora, have for Kanu.
The IPOB spokesperson said, “Dear Governor, please know that people staying at home on Mondays are doing so voluntarily not because of any threat from inconsequential individuals or coercive action by any actors.
“Ask anybody, including those purportedly enforcing the order, they will tell you that the release of Nnamdi Kanu is all they require to stop.”
He noted that the people of the South-East region he referred to as Biafrans see their voluntary sit-at-home exercise as self-sacrifice and the only way to register their protest and displeasure at the “unwarranted and continued unlawful” detention of Kanu which he said the South-East governors, of which Soludo is one, “is actively aiding and abetting.”
Powerful said, “The same people you are asking to abandon their quiet protest on Mondays are the same people you and your fellow governors from the south-east have repeatedly disappointed in your calculated failure to honour your word to visit the Nigerian president to formally request for the release of our leader.
“It’s nearly 6 months now since you and your fellow governors resolved in your meeting at Enugu to visit President Bola Tinubu to effect the release of Nnamdi Kanu, but till date nothing has happened.
“Insecurity in our own beautiful state of Anambra is still raging and you know that the only thing that can bring this sorry state of affairs to an immediate halt is the release of Nnamdi Kanu, yet you have failed to activate this solution.
“In fairness to you, you tried to appeal to the controllers of the last regime but they failed to see reason with you due to their pathological hatred of the Igbo race.
“It’s also on record that South-East governors have failed to honour their pledge to Igbo people worldwide to visit the presidency to press for the release of our leader.
“As long as this remains the state of affairs, most people will choose Monday as the day to protest their injustice against the unlawful detention of our leader Nnamdi Kanu.”
He also accused Governors in South East region of utilizing the sit-at-home order in “playing politics” and the attendant “insecurity across our land because you all underestimate the deep-seated anger and resentment our people feel at the impotency of the leadership to make a simple trip to Abuja”.
He alleged, “Deep down in your hearts, you governors are directly benefiting, financially, from the chaos and mayhem, death and misery bedeviling the ancient and sacred land of the Igbo race.
“Some of you governors who are happily enjoying an inflated security budget on the back of insecurity in our land, occasioned by the illegal incarceration of our leader, are to blame for the raging insecurity in our land because you are the direct beneficiaries of insecurity.
“Those that choose to sit-at-home on Mondays are exercising their right to peaceful protest. You are not in a position to sanction them when they have not broken any laws.
“Those choosing to sit-at-home are doing so because of Nnamdi Kanu and nobody else. You cannot stop it by force.”
Governor Soludo caution come amidst concerns over the ongoing security challenges in Anambra State, with some critics accusing the government of failing to address the issue effectively.
IPOB’s statement on the other hand serves as a reminder of the lingering tensions in the region and the need for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
