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From Geoffrey Anyanwu, Enugu, Okey Sampson, Umuahia, Chijioke Agwu, Abakaliki, Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri and Obinna Odogwu, Awka
A prominent traditional ruler in Enugu State wanted to place a newspaper advertisement last month and he insisted that it should not be published on a Monday because of the “sit-at-home”.
He argued that several people would not have access to the newspaper on that day.
And truly, newspapers are hardly circulated or sold in several parts of the Southeast on Mondays since August 9, 2021, when the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) decalred Ghost Mondays and called for sit-at-home in the region in protest of the continued detention of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, by the Department of State Services (DSS).
Similarly, a lady who returned from Abuja to Okposi in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State was scared to travel to Abakaliki the state capital, last Monday, for the singular reason that it was a ‘sit-at-home’.
That has actually been the case in many communities of the Southeast more than four months after the IPOB suspended its sit-at-home directive.
Barely a week into the call, there was public outcry against it leading to its suspension by the pro-Biafra group which said that it did not want to execute an action that would affect the people they are fighting for.
IPOB had urged residents of Southeast and South-south regions to go about their lawful businesses without fear of intimidation or molestation.
Its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful said that it would no more enforce any sit-at-home, adding that anybody trying to enforce the suspended order is an agent of the enemies.
The statement further claimed that IPOB had uncovered plots by security operatives to disguise as Eastern Security Network (ESN) operatives and IPOB members to attack people to demonise and implicate the group.
Powerful said that in a statement dated August 22: “We, therefore, want to put the world on notice especially residents of Biafra land that IPOB has since two weeks ago suspended its initially declared Monday sit-at-home order. It, therefore, makes no sense that we will at the same time be enforcing the suspended order.
“IPOB restates that there is no longer Ghost Mondays in Biafra land in solidarity with our detained leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Sit-at-home will only be observed on the days our leader will be making appearances in court. Such days will be well publicised ahead of time.”
IMO
However, life is gradually returning to most towns and cities. Residents of Imo State are now enjoying normal life especially in Owerri, the state capital. The state is unarguably the worst hit in the Southeast by the activities of the so-called ‘unknown gunmen’ and the renewed abduction and killings especially of youths and recently traditional rulers.
Sunday Sun gathered that the government had made concerted efforts to stem insecurity in the state with the deployment of heavy security on major roads.
The heavy presence of the security agencies on the roads was the major boost residents needed as many of them were already tired of the IPOB order.
For the Imo civil servants, the state government had threatened to withhold their salaries by invoking the “no work no pay” clause if they failed to return to their duty posts.
Right now, the state is back to life with high economic and social activities; night life is also gradually returning as against when businesses were shut before 7:00p.m.
Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba attributed the quick return of business activities in the state to consistency by Governor Hope Uzodimma in securing the lives of people of the state.
“There is no magic about it, it’s just consistency by the governor in ensuring that the lives of the residents are safe, that way people had their confidence restored, owing that their lives are not at threat,” Emelumba said.
But our investigations showed that while the urban areas in the state are enjoying normal business activities, some rural communities are still observing the order. People in places like Mbano, Orlu, Orsu, Njaba and some parts of Mbaise still stay at home on Mondays.
Sources said that these areas are the strongholds of the hoodlums who forcefully enforced the sit-at-home by IPOB. People in these areas are said to be still living in fears as abduction and killings are still being carried out in them.
Recall that security forces recently engaged the hoodlums at Awo-Omamma in Orsu East Council Area of the state with both sides recording casualties.
According to sources, the hoodlums had as early as 6:00p.m come out to forcefully enforce the order and were confronted by the soldiers.
ANAMBRA
In most parts of Anambra State, people now go about their normal businesses on Mondays without any form of fear. It is not, however, clear what the situation is in Ihiala axis where the bad security breeze from Imo State is said to still touch.
The return of normalcy to the state largely came about because of the collaborative efforts of the government and the people who took guided efforts to normalize the situation.
The people might have considered the economic damage the sit-at-home might have done to the state; hence, their resolve to ensure that normalcy returned.
The South East Governors’ Forum, chambers of commerce and market unions said that the region lost over N50billion to sit-at-home in about five Mondays.
Again, Anambra is the home of business and findings showed that the people were uncomfortable with the idea of having to shut down their means of livelihood for no sound reason.
Some of the residents who spoke to Sunday Sun about the sit-at-home had wondered the benefit of shutting down the economy of a state which hosts the largest market in West Africa.
“Anambra is the pride of the Southeast. If the economy of the state falls, the entire Southeast will collapse. How does our sitting at home affect Buhari and his Fulani kinsmen? How? I think they will even be happy that you’re killing your own economy”, one of them, who preferred anonymity, said.
With the Christmas here and the New Year celebration around the corner, the people did not seem to want to record more economic losses considering that businesses boom more during the Yuletide; hence their eagerness in ensuring that normalcy returned.
As part of the guided steps, the state government ordered the civil servants to go to work on Mondays and also directed the banks, markets and others to open on Mondays too.
To ensure compliance, Governor Willie Obiano, sometime in September led some of his appointees and members of his party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), as well as others, on a visit to some banks and Eke Awka Market.
He also assured them of the state government’s readiness to protect them against attacks from the non-state actors.
He told them that security agencies in the state were on red alert to respond to security issues that might arise in the state.
For the workers, the government warned them, especially the civil servants that their salary for the month of August would not be paid if they obeyed the sit-at-home directive by IPOB.
Head of Service, Harry Udu, in a statement, made it clear that any worker who failed to be at his duty post on Mondays would face severe sanctions including seizure of their August salary.
He asked commissioners and permanent secretaries of various ministries to monitor compliance and report the same accordingly.
The statement had read: “The government of Anambra State has directed that all workers in the state must attend to their duties on Monday 9th August 2021 as failure to do so will result in severe sanctions, including loss of salary for the month of August.
“All Hon. Commissioners and Permanent Secretaries are to monitor and report compliance please. Kindly give this information the widest publicity in your establishment.”
EBONYI
From August 9 to September, even up till October, commercial activities in all parts of Ebonyi State were paralysed every Monday as residents of the state obeyed the IPOB order.
The Ebonyi State government kicked against the observance of the order in the state. Governor David Umahi had repeatedly threatened to confiscate every shop or business premises that refused to open on Mondays because of the sit-at-home order, just the same way he vowed to sack any government worker who failed to report to work on Mondays.
While this happened, the governor through the Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Uchenna Orji, also assured the residents of their security.
But despite the state government’s assurances, most businesses in the state capital were often shut down on Mondays. For instance, the Abakaliki Mechanical Village along Ogoja Road, the International Market and the Timber Shade Market, among others were usually under lock on Mondays until the middle of November.
While every other business opened on Mondays these days without any molestation; Sunday Sun learnt that the newspaper vendors were yet to resume in Abakaliki.
A newspaper vendor in Abakaliki who pleaded anonymity said that they would continue to stay at home every Monday until Nnamdi Kanu was released from detention.
“We believe in the freedom Nnamdi Kanu is fighting for Ndigbo. He is our brother and our son. We will continue to stay at home every Monday in solidarity with him until he regains his freedom,” the vendor said.
An auto mechanic in Abakaliki, Friday Ekoyo, told our correspondent that artisans and traders in the Mechanic Village stopped sitting at home every Monday following ‘directive from the leadership.’
He said: “We started coming to work on Mondays after the leadership got a signal from above. So, every Monday we are out for now until another directive comes.”
Our correspondent further gathered that the statement from IPOB spokesman, Emma Powerful in early November, announcing the stoppage of the Monday sit-at-home in the Southeast helped to restore normalcy in the state.
ENUGU
It was not clear why life has failed to return to Enugu, the Coal City, unlike in other major towns and cities in the region.
Many people both in public and private concerns still stay away from offices and business premises on Mondays even till last Monday, December 20.
The situation in the city actually improved last three weeks following the Ohanaeze and other Igbo leaders’ bold steps to get IPOB come up strongly to announce its resolve to deal decisively with any person or group of persons seen enforcing the sit-at-home as it had been suspended.
Sunday Sun’s monitoring within the state capital revealed that many places especially markets, banks, fuel stations, had refused to open on Mondays because of fear of the unknown.
In the last two weeks when commercial banks fully opened, and markets too, many traders were still afraid to go to their shops and worse still was that inter-state transportation had not yet resumed on Mondays.
A commercial bus driver who plies the Enugu-Okigwe route, Obinna, told Sunday Sun that bad boys could take advantage of the situation to burn or destroy their vehicles.
“We are afraid the way those boys burn people’s vehicles. You see, IPOB will say it is suspended and another group claiming to be the same IPOB will warn that if you come out, you are on your own, so, we have decided to stay away on Mondays until we are sure there is no longer threat to our lives and vehicles,” he said.
In fact, it was difficult to buy fuel from filling stations last Monday in Enugu until late in the evening when they opened for business.
Also in Enugu, the government had left the people to make their decisions whether to come out on Mondays or not as it never threatened any worker or institutions to force them to be on their duty posts all these while.
Residents said that Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi whose slogan is “Enugu is the hands of God” in his characteristic manner, would not want anything that will affect the peaceful atmosphere the state has enjoyed.
However, while many prefer to stay at home out of fear because even with the announcement of the suspension, Enugu had recorded some attacks on vehicles that came out on Mondays, a good number of the people do so in solidarity with the leader of IPOB, Kanu, whom they believe is being incarcerated unjustly by the Federal Government.
Commercial tricycle operators many of whom are suspected to be members of IPOB or in sympathy with the group in Enugu, would say that “the sit-at-home will continue until our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu comes out of Nigerian custody.”
ABIA
Like in Enugu, economic and social activities are yet to fully return in Abia State on Mondays.
Hoodlums had hijacked the sit-at-home especially in Aba commercial city, molesting and harassing people who came out for any economic or social activities on Mondays.
For instance, in Aba in one of the Mondays last month, reports had it that youths numbering over 150, in all black attire and with guns and other dangerous weapons, marched through some streets in the Ngwa Road axis of the city, forcing people who opened for business to close, all in the name of enforcing the sit-at-home order.
Similarly, in October, there was another reported case of some hoodlums who went round the Ogbor Hill area of the city, and forced people who opened for business to close.
Those who had before now slated some social activities for Mondays, have had them either postponed or cancelled. The situation is so bad that presently, Mondays are now out of the social calendar in the state.
Residents of Aba, perhaps have taken the IPOB assurance of dealing with sit-at-home enforcers with a pinch of the salt, hence have continued to stay at home, ostensibly out of fear of the unknown.
At the peak of the sit-at-home few months ago when Aba was turned into a ghost city every Monday, youths were reported to have converted several streets into football pitches as both human and vehicular movements were absent.
Though gates of markets in the city were always thrown open on Mondays on the strength of government’s directives, but traders and their customers were nowhere to be found.
Although human and vehicular movements which were hitherto non-existent in Aba are gradually returning, but commercial activities were yet to pick. Markets, banks, government offices, schools and filling stations were yet to open on Mondays.
However, the scenario is somehow different in Umuahia, the state capital. Except on very rear occasions, the compliance was minimal, so economic and social activities have fully returned to the capital city.
Unlike what obtains in Aba, workers have been going to work in Umuahia, businesses have been bubbling in the various markets in the city, even as there have been human and vehicular movements.
Students and pupils were going to school, while banks and filling stations opened for business.
Regardless, the expectation is that due to the Yuletide, tomorrow, December 27, will witness return of full life in Enugu, Aba and all around the Southeast region.
