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On Sunday, the Enugu State chapter of the Igbo apex socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, announced the cessation of the sit-at-home protest in the South-East region as a whole and specifically in Enugu State.
Fully endorsing the Enugu State Government’s measures to discontinue the sit-at-home protest, the state chapter of the Igbo socio-cultural group emphasised that the demonstration had become obsolete and lacked meaningful impact.
The Eastern Updates reported that a factional leadership within the Indigenous People of Biafra, led by Simon Ekpa, a pro-Biafra agitator residing in Finland, has been enforcing the Monday sit-at-home, declaring himself as the Biafran Prime Minister of Biafra Republic Government in Exile. However, the main IPOB group, under the leadership of Chika Edoziem, had previously revoked the sit-at-home.
The factional group had maintained their insistence on the sit-at-home protest, using it as a means to demand the release of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who has been in the custody of the Department of State Services since June 2021.
However, Ohanaeze, through a statement on Sunday signed by its Enugu President, Professor Fred Eze, expressed its admiration for Governor Peter Mbah’s bold move in bringing an end to ‘the scourge of sit-at-home in Enugu State’.
Read also: Sit-At-Home: Ekpa Writes EU, US, Calls For Visa Ban On Mbah
‘In Enugu State, every Monday became an unofficial holiday as businesses and other social activities usually came to a halt.’
‘Thus, the continued observance of the sit-at-home order had a significant negative impact on the economy of Enugu State. Businesses were rapidly closing down while others were relocating away from the state leading to the loss of foreign direct investment and massive capital flight.’
‘Thus, the action by the Enugu State Government could not have come at a better time. That Governor Peter Mbah also called for the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu; and has triggered steps to get the Federal Government to release Kanu are indicative that the governor understands the core issues at stake.’
‘The sit-at-home order is self-immolating and has disrupted all productive assets and resources in the state since its introduction and enforcement.’
‘Ohanaeze Enugu State chapter expresses happiness that the leader of IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has himself categorically ordered the cessation of any form of sit-at-home in whatever guise in the South-East Nigeria,’ he said.
The group accordingly applauded the ‘life-saving order by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu because the sit-at-home is counterproductive as it does incalculable harm to the people IPOB is fighting for.’
Ohanaeze called upon parents, guardians, youths, and the general public to collaborate with Governor Mbah and his administration in ensuring a permanent end to the sit-at-home in the state.
