By Adadareporters
Two commercial banks and 107 shops were sealed for allegedly observing the sit-at-home order on Monday in Enugu State.
The order was launched by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in South-east states to pressure the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from the custody of the State Services.
The sealing was implemented by the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority, led by the secretary to the state government (SSG), Chidiebere Onyia, a professor.
A video clip and several photographs which showed the officials and Mr Onyia sealing the facilities have been viral.
Onyia in the video said the governor issued the order to seal the shops and banks to stop residents from complying with the sit-at-home order and to demonstrate the seriousness of the government to the ban placed on the illegal order in the state.
In his words, “It is not a punitive but ownership culture, where all of us (should) come together to fight the menace of illegal sit-at-home.
“We are taking it up not because Mbah is in the business of stopping economic growth but to fight those that think they can intimidate us. We have been to ShopRite, Celebrity- a shopping mall – SPAR, (a supermarket) and others. We saw shops that were not open, and we sealed them.”
Gideon Onyia, head of the state development agency, said 78 shops were sealed at Ogbete Main Market. Two commercial banks were also sealed as well as five shops at the SPAR and 24 shops at the Old Artisan Market, he said.
He added that, “If you failed to obey our rules and directives, we can revoke them or withdraw your approvals and give them to people eager to do business in the state.
“Those whose shops are sealed, we will tell them the penalty, but the governor was magnanimous by saying that the exercise was not punitive.”
Recall that governor Mbah had, in June, banned the Monday sit-at-home in the state. According to him, the civil action was killing the ‘spirit of entrepreneurship, commerce and creativity’ of the Igbo people in the region.
