- Says Nnamdi Kanu told him, Ekweremadu, two bishops he never ordered any lockdown, nor its enforcement
Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe, has lamented the sit-at-home order observed every Monday in the South East region of Nigeria, saying that it is destroying the economy of the zone and forcing businesses to relocate.
Senator Abaribe also said that Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has denied ordering Monday’s sit-at-home order currently being observed across the South East. The lockdown is also observed any day Kanu is appearing in court.
Abaribe said Kanu’s denial came when he received the team comprising himself, Senator Ike Ekweremadu and two Bishops where he is being held by the Department of State Services (DSS).
Even though IPOB have repeatedly denied enforcing the sit-at-home order, those who venture out on Mondays are either killed, injured or their vehicles burnt or vandalised, making residents to stay indoors out of fear of violence.
Lamenting that the sit-at-home order is having a negative effect on the economy of the South East, the lawmaker said at the Investiture of Jasper Nduagwuike as the 16th President of the Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture on Saturday regretted that businesses are relocating to other parts of the country due to insecurity in the South East.
According to Abaribe, “what is happening in South East is a tragedy. Every Monday people sit at home. IPOB has said times without number that they are not the ones enforcing the order. We don’t know who is enforcing it, neither does it seem like we have a way to solve it.
“I went with Ike Ekweremadu and two Bishops to the DSS to see Nnamdi Kanu and he told us ‘I have never said people should sit at home’. I told him that nobody believed you. Because people have said they don’t like it, but they keep sitting at home. There is no way we are going to survive like this. You are sitting at home and the people who you are doing these things for are in Lagos and Abuja and they don’t care. And you are here killing your own.
“Sit at home is killing the economy of South East. Most businesses are now moving out to other regions. Insecurity in the Southeast is the biggest problem we are facing now. Even if you seek a separate country, why would you destroy your own place with your hands? You need to have a viable country and not a scattered one.
“We need to make the Southeast become like Catalonia, who despite seeking independence is still the economic capital of Spain. Insecurity is the biggest problem of the South East and the earlier we tackle it, the better for us.”