Tired: S/Easterners cry out over persistent lockdown

– We’re being destroyed gradually – Resident

Jolted by last week’s two-day lockdown, which totally crippled economic activities in the region, residents of the South East geopolitical zone have continued to express frustration with being constantly forced to abandon their businesses on Mondays, with the attendant financial losses and loss of lives.

Last year, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the Igbo sociocultural organization, disclosed that more than 250 people had been killed since 2021 by hoodlums enforcing sit-at-home orders in the South East. That number has since increased.

“We’re just living in fear, nobody is happy with this sit-at-home, but if you come out, they might just kill you,” said Chinasa Opara, a school teacher in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

“You won’t know when their vehicle would be passing, and if you see the kind of guns these people are carrying, you will marvel. Everything is affected, education is mostly affected. No matter how hard you try, you can’t finish the term’s work because of the constant sit-at-home. I really hope the government can do something about it.”

Last Monday, through Tuesday, millions of residents were stuck at home, too afraid to step far beyond their immediate environments because death lurked. A video suddenly started circulating on social media in which one unidentified individual is seen warning residents to remain indoors on October 21 and 22, as according to him, the two days had been declared sit-at-home by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) for the testing of military hardware.

The said individual also threatened to deal with anyone, who failed to comply with the directive, which he affirmed, remained sacrosanct.

The Imo State Police Command and other security agencies had in a bid to reassure residents, on Saturday conducted a show of force, while urging them to go about their normal businesses.

“The Imo State Police Command, in collaboration with the Armed Forces and other security agencies, is conducting show-of-force operations and confidence-building patrols across the state in response to the alleged threats posed by the Indigenous People of Biafra and its armed affiliate, the Eastern Security Network, concerning their unlawful sit-at-home directives scheduled for 21st and 22nd October 2024. Our primary objective is to ensure the safety of law-abiding citizens,” Henry Okoye, the state police spokesman had said in a statement.

“From today, 19th October, and continuing through to 23rd October, security personnel will intensify visible policing through these patrols. Additionally, detectives will carry out reconnaissance operations to gather actionable intelligence. These efforts aim to reassure the public and maintain law and order.”

Okoye urged citizens to remain calm and vigilant, continuing their daily activities while staying mindful of their surroundings.

“Any suspicious activity should be reported to the nearest police station,” he added, noting further that, “Commissioner of Police Aboki Danjuma thanked the people of Imo State for their support and reassured them that their safety remains the Command’s top priority. Together, we can enhance the peace and security in our dear state.”

But the assurances failed to assuage fears of the residents, who had become weary of the violence carried out by often heavily armed agitators. On Monday, through Tuesday, residents deserted the streets of Enugu, Owerri, Umuahia, Awka, Onitsha, Aba and other cities in the region, preferring caution in the event.

Although the official IPOB led by the detained leader of the group, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, refuted the claims, while Simon Ekpa, the Finland based radical and self acclaimed disciple of Kanu who now leads IPOB Autopilot, a breakaway faction, maintained that there was no sit-at-home on Tuesday, many opted to stay indoors for fear of being attacked, in part because it has become difficult to tell if anyone had control of the gunmen.

“The entire agitation is becoming chaotic and tiring,” said Nnaji Ken, a community leader in Amechi , Enugu.

“Unscrupulous characters have hijacked it and are spreading fear and violence, taking advantage of social media. The unknown person who did the video warning people to stay at home is just riffraff somewhere. He says he’s testing weapons, which weapon does he have? Even North Korea cannot ask people to stay at home because they are testing weapons”

Earlier on Sunday, about 10 people were killed by assailants in cult-related violence at Nibo, Anambra State, during the Community’s celebration of Onwa Asaa, a traditional festival. The attackers, according to residents, arrived in a Lexus SUV, entered a restaurant at Oye Nwochichi Market in the community, and opened fire on the victims. And as the news spread, with many believing that the killing may have had to do with the separatist agitation, fear also spread. This led to total compliance to the sit-at-home order in Owerri, Awka, Umuahia, Enugu, and other cities in the zone, where streets were deserted and markets closed down, contrary to what had been the case in more recent months.

The Ekpa led IPOB Autopilot, which has the Biafra Liberation Movement (BLA) as its armed wing, had through the violent enforcement of sit-at-home, halted business activities on Mondays to press home its demand for the release of Kanu, a development that has adversely affected education and economic activities in the region.

But in places like Enugu, where the governor, Peter Mbah has been working hard to curtail attacks, activities had almost returned to normal on Mondays. Civil servants were compelled to report to the office, while schools were forced to open. Major markets like Ogbete, though not filled to capacity, also opened for businesses.

Other states have not been so lucky, although activities have been better than was initially the case. In Anambra, the popular Onitsha Main Market doesn’t open for business, although street traders do open shops, same as in Awka, the state capital, where traders in markets mostly stay indoors on Mondays. The situation is similar to what obtains in Aba, the commercial city of Abia State, and Umuahia, the state capital.

“Everybody is tired of this sit-at-home. Our businesses are suffering. There is hardly a month that they won’t force us to sit at home, at least once, apart from Mondays. It’s becoming frustrating,” said Edith Ugwu, a trader at Onitsha Main Market.

“Some of our customers come from outside the country, especially Cameroon, and they are making it hard for them too. I don’t understand what they hope to achieve by destroying livelihoods here. It’s not as if we’re the ones holding Nnamdi Kanu, the whole thing is just senseless.”

Onitsha and Aba, two of South East’s business hubs, thrive on the back of traders from other states and, indeed, other Western African countries, including Cameroon, and Ivory Coast, among others. But traders say the sit-at-home and the attendant insecurity the separatist agitation has brought, have affected this cross-border trade.

“The best days in Onitsha in terms of trade used to be Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays,” said Oliver Nwafor, a textile dealer at the Main Market. “Monday was when people came from other areas of the South East, such as Nsukka, Enugu, etc. On Wednesday, people from states in other zones come in their numbers, and on Fridays, people from Cameroon and a few other countries. But IPOB people have rendered Mondays useless for us.”

The Kanu-led IPOB had in 2021, cancelled the sit-at-home after an initial attempt to impose same generated backlash from the populace, who felt it was counterproductive and would only harm businesses.

But with Kanu remaining in detention, Ekpa, a self acclaimed disciple of the IPOB leader, whose initial attempt to step into his role following his arrest, was rebuffed by the IPOB structure, quickly seized the initiative and continued to violently impose the sit-at-home order using armed groups. Prior to his arrest in 2021, Kanu had formed Eastern Security Network (ESN), an armed group, ostensibly to fight off attacks by suspected herdsmen in the region. But with him out of the picture, Ekpa appeared to have been able to penetrate the armed group.

Reign of factions 

Meanwhile, as the rift between him and the IPOB leadership continued, Ekpa, who has since proclaimed himself the Prime Minister of a certain Biafra Republic Government In-Exile (BRGIE), split the armed group, named his faction BLA and has since built his own crowd.

Using his X account, where he constantly promotes violent rhetoric, Ekpa constantly rails against members of the Kanu-led IPOB, including the ESN, calling them sellouts, while also pretending to fight for Kanu’s release. He insists his own armed group, the BLA, which it was gathered, mostly carries out the violent attacks in the region, are the authentic forces fighting for Biafra.

Ekpa, having pronounced himself prime minister, also conducts phantom Biafra Referendum every now and then, for which he solicits funds from his followers. He also equally fixes various dates on which to deliver Biafra, none which inevitably comes to pass.

In 2022, he had vowed to bring Biafra by December. After that, he also promised to bring Biafra in February 2023, while vowing that there would be no election in the South East. That also failed to materialize. And on each occasion, his followers believe him. He has now promised to actualize Biafra by December 2, 2024, while soliciting funds for a referendum.

Kanu’s loyalists, firmly dismiss him as a con artist and agent of destabilization, who is being used to destroy Igboland. The IPOB leader himself had during a court appearance recently, warned against those, who use his name to commit atrocities in Igboland, in an apparent reference to Ekpa.

“I have heard about some people committing atrocities in Igboland, claiming that they are doing it for my sake. I have heard about some idi*ts talking all over the place, trying to be relevant because of Biafra, or trying to use my name to gain relevance,” Kanu said.