• Youth leaders beg Tinubu to release Kanu for peace
• HURIWA blasts S’East govs over persistent sit-at-home
Despite the declaration by Finland-based Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa, that Tuesday was not included in the sit-at-home imposed on the South-East, residents of Abia and Anambra states stayed indoors yesterday.
The roads remained empty with residents indoors on day two of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)’s sit-at-home order.
The Awka capital territory, where the order witnessed a partial compliance on Monday, was a ghost territory on Tuesday.
The residents attributed it to the confusion between the Nnamdi Kanu and Simon Ekpa’s directives for people to ignore Tuesday’s order dished out through a viral faceless video on Monday.
While many streets in the two Abia towns of Aba and Umuahia were free of heavy vehicular movement, there were scanty economic activities, while government offices remained under lock and key.
To end the sit-at-home in the geo-political zone, the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL) has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to order the release of IPOB leader (IPOB), Kanu, from the Department of State Services (DSS) custody.
The apex South-East youth body also called for an end to the sit-at-home order in the zone, regretting that the order consigning people to their homes while businesses were crumbling in the zone was meaningless. The plea was contained in yesterday’s statement by the President-General, Goodluck Ibem.
The statement reads: “COSEYL is alarmed by the incessant sit-at-home orders via social media platforms from different individuals and groups, ordering people to leave their legitimate businesses, work and means of livelihood and stay indoors doing nothing. These orders come from unknown persons through voice notes and videos and people are terrified to obey such orders to the letter. We cannot continue this as a people. This madness must stop forthwith.”
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has raised concern over the ongoing enforcement of sit-at-home orders in the region.
HURIWA blamed the economic and security deterioration in the Southeast to the inaction of governors, describing their failure to address the issue as a sign that the people no longer have confidence in their leadership.
The National Coordinator, HURIWA, Emmanuel Onwubiko, called on the governors to act decisively and prioritise the interests of the South-East, starting with a united demand for the release of Kanu, whose detention remains central to the unrest.
