Schools, offices, road and businesses and others were deserted as Southeast states observed sit-at-home declared by the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) for commemoration of May 30, Biafra Day.
Major cities, including Enugu, the capital of Enugu State; Onitsha, the business hub of Anambra State; Awka, the capital of Anambra State; Aba and Umuahia in Abia State; Owerri, the capital of Imo State; and Abakaliki, the capital of Ebonyi State, experienced widespread shutdowns.
Markets, banks, schools, offices, and public transportation services remained closed, with streets largely deserted.
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Some residents said they opted to stay indoors out of solidarity and respect for those who died during the Nigerian Civil War, while some said they are indoors for fear of attacks and harm by possible enforcers of the order.
Recall that the leadership of the IPOB had announced the enforcement of a sit-at-home order in the Southeast states.
The IPOB said the sit-at-home order in these states is aimed at honouring the soldiers who died during the cause of the civil war.
In a statement released by its spokesperson, Emma Powerful, the IPOB also claimed it ordered the sit-at-home to prevent miscreants from taking advantage of the Biafra Day to cause mayhem in these states.
The group also advised bodies like the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to ensure that exams fixed on the said date are moved to avoid putting school children in harm’s way.
Biafra Remembrance Day, observed annually on May 30, is a solemn occasion for many in the South-East to honour the estimated one to three million people, mostly of Igbo descent, who lost their lives during the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970).
The war followed the declaration of the Republic of Biafra by the late Lt. Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, a move that was opposed by Nigeria’s federal government under the regime of former head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, leading to a brutal three-year conflict marked by heavy casualties, starvation, and displacement.
IPOB, a separatist group founded in 2012 by Nnamdi Kanu, has consistently called for the secession of the South-East and parts of the South-South to form an independent state of Biafra.
The group declared May 30 a “sacred” day of remembrance and has, in recent years, enforced sit-at-home directives with varying degrees of compliance and disruption.
This year’s compliance was near total in many areas, with residents locking up their businesses and avoiding travel, despite warnings and threats by police and other security agencies in the region against implementation of the order.
In Umuahia, the capital of Abia State, the streets were empty as residents stayed indoors in total compliance with the sit-at-home order.
The roads were deserted with no significant commercial and private vehicular movement except for occasional movements of tricycles and a few vehicles.
Also, shops on the streets, markets, motor parks, banks, and private and public schools were shut.
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