Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, has intensified efforts to end the Monday sit-at-home in the state. He met with civil servants, yesterday, on the issue, even as streets were deserted.

Yesterday’s meeting was the second with the workers since Thursday, June 1, when he announced the ban on the sit-at-home being enforced by those calling for the release of Nnamdi Kanu from Department of State Services (DSS) custody.

The governor had directed that the sit-at-home be called off from June 5, when he met with the workers at the secretariat while monitoring compliance to the directive.

On June 10, the governor also met with critical stakeholders in the state, including transport unions, markets leaders, religious and traditional leaders, civil society organisations, organised private sector and labour unions, where he extracted their commitment to end the sit-at-home.

Represented at yesterday’s meeting by the Secretary to the State Government (SGF), Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, he stressed the need to support government’s efforts and programmes for the overall interest of the state.

Onyia, who used the meeting to assess the level of compliance by workers, expressed the government’s desire to rebuild the economy, urging them to work to improve revenues of the state.

Many civil servants, who reported to work for the first time in several months on a Monday, were present at the meeting. A government circular dated June 16 and signed by the Head of Service (HoS), Ken Chukwuegbo, tagged ‘Crucial Meeting’ had summoned the civil servants to the meeting.

Incidentally, the workers returned to their homes at the close of the meeting after signing the attendance register.

Meanwhile, major markets, banks, schools and offices remained closed in the state, yesterday, despite the meeting, two weeks ago, where they assured the governor of their support to the directive to end the sit-at-home in the state.

Major roads were also deserted, with skeletal operation of commercial buses, tricycles and private vehicles. The Guardian discovered that the few commercial vehicles on the road charged exorbitant fares. Major petrol stations were also not selling products and under lock and key.The neighbourhoods, however, boomed with young men playing football in the streets and drinking at various joints.