The governments of Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, and Imo states have vowed to curb the excesses of non-state actors disrupting governance and activities in the southeast geo-political zone.
Their reactions came after the factional leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Simon Ekpa, threatened to impose a two-week sit-at-home in the Southeast from July 31st to August 14th.
Ekpa had on Tuesday, July 11, insisted that there would be a total lockdown in the southeast region.
But responding to the threat, the Anambra state government said it would not yield to non-state actors.
Speaking through Christian Aburime, press secretary to Governor Chukwuma Soludo, the state government said Ekpa was a fugitive who should be ignored.
“Anambra State, under the leadership of Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, will never yield to non-state actors on this illegal sit-at-home order,” he said.
He ordered markets, schools, businesses, and other social activities to remain open insisting that Anambra state would never be a breeding ground for anarchy, fear, or lawlessness.
Also reacting, an official of the Enugu state government who described Ekpa as a criminal, said nobody would obey him in the state, insisting on an end to all illegal sit-at-home orders in Enugu.
The official, who does not want his name to be revealed as he was not one of the spokesmen, warned any of Ekpa’s criminal foot soldiers who might want to test the government to rethink as “they may not live to tell the story”.
In his reaction, Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi state declared that there is nothing like sit-at-home in the state.
Nwifuru stated this while fielding questions from journalists shortly after participating in a meeting of Ohanaeze Ndigbo with Governors, House of Assembly Speakers National Assembly members and other leaders from the southeast zone at Imo State Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja.
Also, the Imo State Police Command declared that the officers of the command are now on top of the situation to stop the continued sit-at-home order by Ekpa.
