By Adadainfo
The sit-at-home order declared by the head of the Radio Biafra, Mr Simon Ekpa, was not hearkened to by Enugu residents who went about their businesses on Friday, December 9.
Ekpa, a self-acclaimed disciple of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, had declared sit-at-home from Dec 9 to Dec 14 aimed at boycotting the 2023 general elections.
However, IPOB, through its spokesman, Mr Emma Powerful, countered Ekpa, a lawyer. Powerful stated that, “Every Southeasterner and residents in the region should ignore such order from individuals whose agenda is to make the Biafra agitation unattractive to our people.”
A survey carried out by our reporter showed that businesses and offices opened today across Enugu State.
At the new state secretariat in Enugu, offices opened for business. A worker in one of the ministries, who identified herself as Deborah, said, “We heard about sit-at-home. I thought that when I get here, I would not see people. But behold, it was a full house. I think people are tired of sitting at home.”
At Ogbete Main Market, Enugu, it is the same beehive of activities. A trader said, “My goods are wasting because of bad market. If I sit at home, I will lose more. The patronage has been very low. It will get worse when the entire shop is shut. I doubt if anybody obeyed such order.”
Various schools also opened for business. An operator of a private school at Abakpa, John Chukwura, said, “I made enquiries before allowing teachers to teach. Many parents actually brought their children and wards little late. We are happy because such would have been the longest clustered sit-at-home by IPOB. I always say that destroying Igbo land in the name of actualising Buafra is like building a mansion whose occupants had been killed.”
Recall that Simon Ekpa, a former Nigerian athlete and thriving Finland-based immigration consultant, was last July announced as the interim leader of IPOB following the arrest of Kanu in Kenya. Kanu is currently being detained at the headquarters of the Department of State Services over alleged running a proscribed group, jumping bail and treason.
