Southeast Sit-at-Home Tyranny Must Stop

The call by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) for the release of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, from the Nigerian government is legitimate. Those in the southeast who believe that Kanu is fighting for a just cause and have chosen sit-at-home protests as a non-violent means of pressing their demands have the right to do so.

However, forcing, maiming, and destroying the vibrant economic activities of the region in the name of enforcing a sit-at-home order is no longer a protest; it has become violence and terror, which must stop immediately.

Nnamdi Kanu, the IPOB leader, was arrested in Kenya on June 18, 2021, after previously fleeing terrorism charges in Nigeria. On June 29, 2021, he was transferred to Nigeria and handed over to the Department of State Security (DSS) to face his charges.

Shortly after, on July 30, 2021, IPOB’s spokesman announced that the southeast region would begin a sit-at-home protest, set to start on Monday, August 9, 2021, across the states of Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, and Imo.

“From that day, Biafra land will be on lockdown every Monday from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. until our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who was unlawfully abducted in Kenya and illegally detained by the federal government of Nigeria, is released,” said Emma Powerful.

Since 2021, the region’s commercial activities have been paralyzed every Monday. Armed groups linked to IPOB have continued to wreak havoc on residents who dare to go out to conduct business on these designated sit-at-home days.

Initially, sit-at-home was a recognized form of non-violent protest, a way for people to withdraw from the social system to express their grievances. Other non-violent protest methods include total personal non-cooperation, collective disappearance, walk-outs, and rejecting national honors.

While sit-at-home is a legitimate form of civil disobedience, it becomes something else entirely when accompanied by violence. IPOB has weaponized this protest, turning it into a tool of terror.

It ceases to be civil disobedience when people are forced, often with dangerous weapons, to shut their businesses and when public and private institutions, including schools, markets, banks, airports, and seaports, are prevented from operating. This is tyranny, not protest.

The sit-at-home order is injurious to the academic, economic, and social welfare of the five southeastern states.

For example, some students missed the General Mathematics exam on May 30, 2024, because it coincided with IPOB’s Biafra Day celebration.

Academically, southeastern students have historically performed well in the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). In 2021, the region led the nation, with 90 out of 100 students earning five credits, including English and Mathematics.

However, if the sit-at-home orders and IPOB’s violent activities continue unchecked, these academic achievements may be at risk.

Economically, the southeast has always been a vibrant hub for commerce and production. However, some businesses are relocating to neighboring regions due to IPOB’s sit-at-home enforcement.

What will the southeast gain by diminishing its own economic potential?

In June 2024, socialite Pascal Chibuike Okechukwu, popularly known as Cubana Chief Priest, told BBC Igbo that the violent sit-at-home protests forced him to relocate his business from the southeast to Lagos.

He also revealed that many sons and daughters of the region prefer to stay in other states during festive periods rather than returning home due to the insecurity caused by IPOB.

The financial toll is staggering. In 2023, Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, estimated that his state lost N19.6 billion due to the violent sit-at-home protests.

Soludo remarked, “Due to the protracted breakdown of law and order, businesses are relocating outside Igboland, with growing unemployment. Traders who used to come to shop in Onitsha, Nnewi, and Aba are going elsewhere. Who is losing?”

Moreover, the sit-at-home order has serious humanitarian consequences. Sick people or pregnant women cannot access hospitals, causing some to lose their lives due to the inability to receive timely medical care.

IPOB and its supporters must adopt dialogue instead of harming their own people and destroying the livelihoods of those they claim to be fighting for.

It is extremely challenging for anyone to successfully contest terrorism and treason charges in Nigeria.Even the legal icon and former Premier of the Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was not fortunate when he was charged with sedition and treason in 1963, resulting in a 10-year prison sentence. This makes dialogue the most viable path forward for Kanu and his supporters.

Governors from the region should unite and engage in dialogue with the federal government for a potential out-of-court settlement to resolve the terrorism charges against Nnamdi Kanu.

The southeast should not be turned into a war zone. The terror and tyranny of IPOB against its own people must stop immediately.

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