IPOB Denies Ordering One Week Sit-At-Home

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has denied making a one-week sit-at-home order in states within the South-east part of Nigeria.

Simon Ekpa who is the leader of Autopilot which happens to be a faction of the IPOB had issued a statement on June 14, announcing that there would be a one-week sit-at-home in the South-east.

Ekpa, according to the statement, had instructed that the sit-at-home in the region would take place from July 3 to 5 and continue from Friday, 7 to 10 July.

The self-acclaimed prime minister of the Biafra Republic Government in Exile had stated further that the proposed civil action was to call for the “immediate and unconditional release” of the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

Recall that Kanu has been in detention at the facility of Nigeria’s secret police, State Security Service (SSS).

According to Ekpa, the one-week sit-at-home in the South-east was also in preparation for the conduct of “Biafra’s self-referendum.”

The spokesperson of IPOB, Emma Powerful on Thursday, however, denied that the one-week sit-at-home order was made by the group.

“IPOB did not declare the infamous sit-at-home. Those doing that (declaring the sit-at-home) are criminals who want to use Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s name and IPOB to perpetrate criminalities in the South-eastern states, but it won’t work for them,” he said.

“They want Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to remain in the SSS solitary confinement,” Powerful added as quoted by PREMIUM TIMES.

The sit-at-home was declared in 2021 after Kanu was renditioned from Kenya to Nigeria despite travelling to Kenya as a British citizen.

He was hitherto charged with running a proscribed group, jumping bail and treason, Kanu was however acquitted and discharged by the Court of Appeal.

His counsel, Aloy Ejimakor had also earlier appealed to President Tinubu to release Kanu and eschew toeing the line of his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, whose government sought a stay of execution order of Kanu’s release at the Supreme Court.

Originally, IPOB declared the sit-at-home every Monday and everyday Kanu, was to appear in court, to press for his unconditional release.

However, despite IPOB’s withdrawal of its order, some unidentified groups have emerged and continued unabatedly to enforce the sit-at-home order in a most violent manner.

Many innocent people have been killed and vehicles accosted on the road on sit-at-home days were burnt.

It is clear that the continued detention of Kanu by the Federal Government even after no court of competent jurisdiction has found him guilty of treason as charged is at the root of persistent agitation by IPOB and its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), for the release of their boss.

To complicate the matter is the emergence of one Ekpa, a Finland-based lawyer and activist, who is the de-facto leader of IPOB, now issuing sit-at-home orders that are religiously obeyed in the South-East.