The Enugu State Government has threatened to shut schools and markets that observe the controversial one-week sit-at- home order declared by a faction of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Simon Ekpa, the leader of Autopilot, a faction of the IPOB, had, in a statement on 14 June, announced that there would be a one-week sit-at-home in the region.
Mr Ekpa, a self-acclaimed prime minister of “Biafra Republic Government in Exile”, said the sit-at-home would hold from 3 to 5 July and continue from Friday 7 to 10 July.
The agitator said the proposed civil action was to demand the “immediate and unconditional release” of the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who has been detained at the facility of Nigeria’s secret police, State Security Service.
He said the action was also in preparation for the conduct of “Biafra’s self-referendum.”
But Emma Powerful, the spokesperson of the IPOB faction led by Mr Kanu, would later disown the declaration, saying the sit-at-home order did not emanate from the group.
Also in a statement on Tuesday by the Secretary to the State Government, Chidiebere Onyia, the state government warned proprietors of private schools not to comply with the civil order or risk losing their licence.
Mr Onyia, a professor, explained that the warning was in response to social media reports on Tuesday morning that proprietors of some private schools in the state were sending messages to parents that they would not open their schools for one week due to the controversial sit-at-home order.
“The Enugu State Government is alarmed and dismayed by this development and hereby warns that any school that fails to open and function normally from today will have its license revoked immediately.
“The Enugu State Government also extends the same warning to market unions and shop owners in the state. All markets and shops in the various markets must be open to customers from today or be shut down indefinitely,” the statement read in part.
The government reiterated its ban on sit-at-home orders by non-state actors in the state, saying residents should go about their normal duties as security measures have been put in place to secure lives and property.
“Government will no longer sit by and watch faceless groups and misguided individuals issue illegal orders, dictating to us how to lead our lives, when to go to work or market and when our children go to school, while they ply their trade and their children go to school.
