A new report by a consulting firm, SBM Intelligence, has revealed that businesses in the southeastern region of Nigeria lost N7.6 trillion since residents began observing the weekly sit-at-home order imposed by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

August 2025 will make it four years since IPOB, a separatist group agitating for the liberation of the southeastern region, began forcing residents of the region to abandon their jobs and businesses every Monday.

This was a tactic adopted by the outlawed group to demand the release of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who was detained that year and is currently on trial over terrorism allegations.

“Mondays in most of the Southeast have become mainly characterised by inactivity, with empty streets and closed businesses,” the report read in part.

To enforce this order, members of the outlawed group sometimes set commercial vehicles ablaze and attack those who defy the directive, thereby inciting fear in the minds of others.

Businesses incurred losses as a result of the order, as business owners shut their shops every Monday.

“The region has suffered immense losses, including an estimated N7.6 trillion ($4.6 billion) in economic damage and 776 fatalities,” the report read in part.

“Key sectors like trade, transportation, and SMEs have been crippled, with income losses averaging 50-70%.”

A further analysis of the losses reveals that micro-businesses lose N4.6 trillion annually, and transporters have forfeited N10–13 billion.