Sit-at-home : IPOB warns Soludo not to force people to stop sit-at-home on Mondays

By Cyprian Ebele, Onitsha

Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Sunday warned Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra state not to force residents of the state to stop the Monday sit-at-home they peacefully embarked upon in honour of marginalization of the Igbo race and detention of Nnamdi Kanu..

Reacting to an order from the state government that workers who continue to observe the  Monday sit-at-home exercise,  should forfeit their salary, IPOB, through its image maker, Emma Powerful, said,

“It has been drawn to our attention the reported threat by Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo to penalise and intimidate citizens who choose to remain indoors on Mondays as a symbolic act of solidarity with our leader, Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who is being unlawfully detained by enemies of the Igbo race and the Biafra restoration project which he leads. 

“Let it be stated clearly and without ambiguity: Anambra is not a military barracks. The people are not tenants in their own land. No Governor has the lawful power to compel free citizens to open their businesses or move about against their will, especially when their action is a peaceful, non-violent expression of conscience.

“Monday Sit-at-home is a civil disobedience not terrorism,

Governor Soludo, as a man who parades the title “Professor,” should be the first to recognize the elementary democratic principle called civil disobedience—a peaceful refusal to cooperate with policies and conditions viewed as unjust.

“If businessmen, traders, students, professionals, elders and youths voluntarily choose to sit at home on Mondays as a silent protest against the continued detention and persecution of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, that is their right. It is not a crime. It is not rebellion. It is not an offence.

“A government that turns peaceful protest into punishable misconduct is simply declaring war on the people’s dignity.

“Again, the governor should stop fighting his own people to I press Abuja  Governor Soludo must not pretend he does not understand what is happening. Nobody is deceived.

“The frustration in Igboland is deep. The anger is justified. The pain is historic. And the Monday sit-at-home is a token expression of that collective burden.

“But instead of confronting the injustice that fuels agitation, the Governor has chosen the weak and disgraceful route of harassing his own people—to be seen as “loyal” by Abuja power brokers who have shown nothing but contempt for Igbo lives and Igbo dignity.

“When criminal violence is tolerated elsewhere, and killers are pampered, negotiated with, and incentivized under “rehabilitation,” it is a tragedy that an Igbo governor would devote his energy to threatening traders, punishing youths, and blackmailing citizens for choosing to stay in their homes peacefully.

“We issue this warning in the strongest possible terms:

If Governor Soludo, in his desperation for applause, proceeds to establish any task force, enforcement squad, or vigilante-style unit to coerce citizens into opening shops through threats, extortion, harassment, arrests, or intimidation, then he has crossed a red line.

“That will not be governance. That will be a provocation. That will be oppression. And the people will treat it for what it is: an open declaration of hostility against the spirit of Biafra and the collective resolve of Ndị Igbo.

“We do not force people to sit at home. But no government will force them to go out. The sit-at-home is voluntary. It is a choice. It is a personal and collective statement of solidarity. People who stay home on Mondays do so because they believe sacrifice is part of the struggle for justice and freedom.

“This is Igboland. We have honour. We have dignity. We understand history. We understand what oppression looks like. We understand what freedom costs.

“Governor Soludo should focus on the mandate he begged for: security, infrastructure, jobs, and development. If he truly believes in the “Dubai” rhetoric he sold to Anambra people, then he should deliver it through competence, not coercion.

“A governor who fights traders for protesting injustice is not building Dubai. He is building resentment. He is planting a division.

He is igniting a fire he cannot control.

“The Governor knows the truth he is avoiding: The solution is not threats. The solution is justice. The solution is the release of Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu who is the symbol of our freedom and hope.

“Until that injustice is addressed, every Monday will remain a day of silent protest. Not by decree. Not by violence. But by conscience,” the movement maintained