South East businessmen and women have lamented over constant closure of businesses in the zone as a result of the Sit-at-Home order of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) whereby residents are compelled to remain indoors whenever Nnamdi Kanu, its leader, is arraigned in court.
Those who ventured out of their homes on the streets or roads have been attacked, killed or their properties and vehicles vandalised by lockdown enforcers who claim to be acting on behalf of IPOB and its militant wing, Eastern Security Network (ESN).
Meanwhile, Chief Mbazurike Amaechi, an elder statesman and First Republic Minister of Aviation, has expressed disappointment over the manner in which IPOB members are handling the campaign for the release of their leader.
Amaechi, who said it appeared that some persons were making money from Kanu’s plight, threatened to pull out of the negotiation for the release of Kanu.
He said that the group has failed to respect the efforts of the Igbo elders in their bid to to secure the release of the IPOB leader.
And the group campaign to lockdown Southeast region took a new level when IPOB enforcers carried its campaign of violence broke into a Catholic Church in Onitsha, Anambra State, on Tuesday as the early morning mass was going on.
In an interview with journalists on Wednesday, some businessmen said over N25 billion is lost in Onitsha alone each day there is “sit-at-home,” not to talk of economic activities in all cities, towns and villages and in all sectors of the economy throughout the entire South East.
The Onitsha businessmen are lamenting over the loss of patronage, saying their customers, including those who used to come from Cameroon and other West African countries have been diverting the sourcing of their goods and services to Lagos for fear of being attacked by IPOB and their enforcers.
Similarly, a group known as Igbo Business Forum has urged IPOB not to use the Biafran struggle to destroy the economy of the South East.
Spokesperson of the group, Chief Ndubuisi Ehibundu, who spoke to reporters in Awka, capital of Anambra State, lamented that between Monday and Thursday this week, the zone will loose billions because of “sit-at-home”.
“How can someone decide to ruin the economy of his people because of a struggle? And come to think of it, they are not more Biafran than us. You tell people to sit at home when you have nothing to manage the effect of hunger in the land and for those of us in the business sector, we loose and average of N25 billion in Onitsha alone and I believe we also lose the same sum in Aba, Nnewi; and others and this is not good for our economy.
“My colleagues in other zones are celebrating what we lost to them due to sit at home order. What is happening in the South East, if it continues, would spell doom to the zone? Those that come to the South East to transact business have deserted us and moved to Lagos instead of the normal Onitsha, Aba and Nnewi. We are loosing a lot as a result of this sit-at-home.
“We believe that that there are other ways to achieve this struggle besides closing down our shops, factories and offices to our own detriment,” he said.
Originally published in Daily Trust