The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has declared a total lockdown of the South East on Monday February 2, in solidarity with the Anambra traders whose shops were closed by the governor of Anambra State, Prof Chukwuma Soludo.
Although a statement by the spokesperson of the group, Emma Powerful who disclosed this to journalists said the protest would be voluntary, it urged all schools, banks and other institutions to remain closed on that day.
“This total shutdown across Biafraland is a direct, peaceful, and unified response to the tyrannical actions of Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, who has shut down the Onitsha Main Market for one week and threatened further month-long closures, revocation of land ownership, demolition, and punitive repurposing if traders continue their legitimate observance of Monday sit-at-home in solidarity with our unjustly imprisoned leader.
“This strike is not enforcement; it is a voluntary, collective expression of outrage and solidarity with the hardworking traders of Onitsha, whose livelihoods are now under direct assault by a governor who has chosen to act as an enforcer for anti-Biafran interests rather than a servant of his people.
“Soludo’s closure of Africa’s largest market, coupled with his reckless threats to revoke allocations and rebuild in “public interest,” is economic warfare against Biafrans. It is designed to break the spirit of peaceful civil disobedience that has highlighted the injustice of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s continued detention despite sham proceedings.”
However, IPOB said it remains committed to non-violence and dialogue leading to a referendum on Biafran self-determination.
