Ignore IPOB’s Sit-At-Home Order, Imo CP Tells Residents As Anambra Police Boss Deploys Special Squad

Security operatives in Imo State have called on residents to ignore the order by the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) for people of the South East to sit at home on May 30, 2024, to mark the Biafra Remembrance Day celebration.

Addressing newsmen during a confidence-boosting parade in Owerri on Wednesday, the commissioner of police, Danjuma Aboki, said security operatives were ready to arrest anyone or group attempting to foment trouble in the state under the guise of a sit-at-home order.

IPOB said the day was set aside to honour those who died during the civil war between July 6, 1967 and January 15, 1970.

IPOB also warned that all activities in the South-East are banned on 30th May, calling on the governors in the region to provide adequate security for lives and property on that day.

Also, the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, insisted that today’s celebration must be held despite threats by Nigerian security agents.

Police Deploy Special Squad To Schools, Offices In Anambra

The Anambra State Police command said it had deployed its operatives of the Schools Protection Squad (SPS), to institutions ahead of today’s sit-at-home order by IPOB.

Although the Anambra State government has not made any official pronouncement on the sit-at-home, the state police command said an Assistant Commissioner of Police in the Operations Department of the command would lead the squad.

Unofficially, heads of the various departments in the state secretariat warned workers of the consequences of absenting themselves from work in the guise of Biafra Day.

To ensure that the state is properly secured, the Commissioner of Police, Nnaghe Itam yesterday complemented the Joint Security Force comprising the Army, Navy, Civil Defence, and other sister agencies to address any security concern, especially against those enforcing illegal sit-at-home in the state.

The CP specifically directed the squad to ensure the safety of students, who are currently sitting for the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) which would start today nationwide.

According to the CP, the special squad was designed to protect the schools, students, and institutional infrastructure.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Tochukwu Ikenga, said in a statement that members of the squad have been equipped with relevant assets and advanced training to effectively respond to security challenges facing educational institutions.

We’ve Massively Deployed Our Men— Imo Police

Also, yesterday, the Imo State Police headquarters said the command had massively deployed their men to ensure protection of lives and property ahead of today’s declaration of a sit-at-home order by IPOB.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Henry Okoye, disclosed this to newsmen in Owerri.

The police said the aim was to ensure that residents go about their businesses without fear of intimidation by the IPOB enforcers of sit-at-home.

According to the Police, “The Commissioner of Police, Imo State Command, Aboki Danjuma, has urged the law-abiding residents of the state to disregard the unlawful and deleterious three days sit-at-home order imposed by the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed affiliate Eastern Security Network (ESN) and go about their lawful businesses without any form of fear or intimidation as the command in synergy with other security agencies has emplaced adequate security measures to evade any threat of attack by any insurgent group.

“Security operatives drawn from the Police, Military, Civil Defence, Road Safety, Immigration and Fire Service have been massively deployed to embark on confidence-building patrol and operation show of force across the 27 LGAs of the state to ensure public safety.

“The Command, therefore, is using this medium to warn anybody intending to destabilise the improved peace and security in the state by attempting to enforce the illegal sit-at-home order to have a rethink as anyone caught in the act will be made to face the full wrath of the law.”

“The Commissioner of Police calls on ‘Ndi Imo’ to be security-conscious and swiftly report any suspicious person seen or clandestine activity observed within their vicinity to the nearest Police Station or via the Command’s emergency lines 08034773600 or 08098880197.”