The Senate has rejected a motion to release Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the banned Indigenous People of Biafra.
Senator Osita Izunaso (Imo West) introduced the motion to address the continual sit-at-home order enforced by unknown gunmen in the South-East.
In a resolution co-sponsored by other South-East politicians, the congressman stated that senators were aware that hundreds of innocent lives had been lost since the action began, and properties worth over a trillion dollars had been destroyed, causing investors to flee the region.
He said, “The sit-at-home civil disobedience actions in the South-East have led to the disruption/destruction of economic activities and immeasurable financial losses for businesses, workers, and the local economy. Because, when people are forced to stay at home and businesses remain closed, productivity declines and income is reduced, affecting livelihoods and economic growth.
“The “sit-at-home” protests disrupt the education of students, leading to missed classes and delays in academic progress. And such prolonged disruptions have long-term effects on students’ learning outcomes and educational development; Disturbed that disruption of essential public services, such as healthcare, transportation, and waste disposal, continues to have a severe impact during “sit-at-home” protests which adversely affect the well-being and safety of the general population living in the South-East.”
In August 2021, IPOB launched a sit-at-home order for every Monday across the South-East to protest Kanu’s continued arrest. The order was eventually suspended by the separatist faction.
Despite the fact that the IPOB section led by Kanu has ceased the exercise, the leader of a part of IPOB, Simon Ekpa, has continued to announce sit-at-home orders across the region.
Residents of the five South-East states of Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia, and Anambra have been repeatedly killed, wounded, and attacked by gunmen enforcing the civil order for going out on Mondays and other days when the order is violated.
