JUST IN: IPOB Issues Warning to Governor Soludo Over Monday Sit-at-Home
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has warned Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, over the reported sealing of shops at the Onitsha Main Market on Monday.
The group said the action targets traders who stayed away from work because of the continued sit-at-home in parts of the South-East.
IPOB called on the state government to immediately reopen all sealed shops and stop what it described as punishment of innocent citizens.
In a statement released on Tuesday by its spokesperson, Emma Powerful, the group said it received “credible reports” that government officials moved into the market to shut down businesses that failed to open on Monday.
IPOB said the move followed earlier warnings by Governor Soludo against the sit-at-home practice. However, the group insisted that traders should not be punished for their personal decisions.
It described the reported action as “deeply troubling, reckless, and authoritarian,” adding that it amounts to collective punishment of traders who committed no offence.
“To seal the shops of hardworking traders because they did not open on a particular day is not governance; it is collective punishment,” the statement said.
“Even under a simple landlord-tenant relationship, a landlord cannot lawfully lock out a tenant for not sleeping in the house on a particular day. Such an act would amount to unlawful eviction.”
IPOB restated that its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, has publicly asked people to stop sit-at-home and reject violence linked to its enforcement.
“Our leader, Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has consistently called for an end to sit-at-home and the violent enforcement of it,” the group said.
“Where sit-at-home still occurs, it is a voluntary civil expression of solidarity by ordinary people who are pained by the continued illegal detention of our leader. It is not a policy of coercion.”
The group said the behavior of residents cannot be changed through threats or economic pressure. It noted that fear, past attacks, and unresolved grievances still shape how people act in the region.
“Governor Soludo, as an economist and self-professed intellectual, should understand that societal patterns do not change at the snap of a finger simply because a governor issues threats from a podium,” IPOB said.
“People are not automatons. They are citizens with fears, experiences, and memories of past injustices.”
IPOB warned that shutting down shops would worsen tension in the state and damage trust between the government and the public.
“Intimidation, threats, and economic punishment will not produce the normalcy the governor claims to desire,” the statement added.
“Such heavy-handed tactics risk provoking unnecessary tension and deepening mistrust.”
The group also expressed concern that an Igbo governor would adopt what it called harsh measures against his own people.
“The duty of an Igbo governor is to protect his people, not to traumatize them with the same instruments of intimidation used elsewhere,” IPOB said.
It urged Governor Soludo to choose dialogue instead of force and to respect the rights of traders.
“Leadership is not about issuing threats or demonstrating force against one’s own people,” the statement said. “Leadership is about patience, persuasion, justice, and respect for the dignity of citizens.”
IPOB concluded by calling for calm and warning authorities against steps that could trigger unrest in the state. It said only restraint and wisdom can restore peace and stability.
