The ongoing Monday sit-at-home demonstration in the South-East is a Ndigbo protest against the prolonged detention of their leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have reaffirmed.
According to a statement released by IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, the organization denied that it is implementing the weekly shutdown and maintained that the civil action can only be terminated by Kanu’s unconditional release.
IPOB claimed that while the Nigerian government ignored the true problem—the demand for justice and self-determination—it was sullying its reputation through intimidation and extortion.
IPOB denies the accusations and demands Kanu’s release.
The statement read, “The noble family and movement of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, worldwide wish to categorically notify the Nigerian military and government that they cannot use Monday sit-at-home as a form of blackmail by using IPOB and the Eastern Security Network (ESN) as we are a disciplined self-determination movement and have long disassociated ourselves from it.”
IPOB emphasized that unconditionally releasing Nnamdi Kanu is the only way to halt the sit-at-home protests. The organization said that Kanu’s imprisonment is being used to oppress Ndigbo, which is encouraging further rebellion.
ESN’s Function in Preserving Biafra Territory
According to the statement, state-sponsored terrorists have not been able to turn the area into a “mass grave” because of the Eastern Security Network’s (ESN) efforts to ensure Ndigbo’s safety.
When it comes to stopping terrorists who pose as ranchers, ESN agents are suffering greatly. To eliminate all Biafran defense lines, the Nigerian government and military target and blackmail ESN on a regular basis. For Ndigbo, ESN is still their final line of defense, the group said.
The Nigerian military, according to IPOB, has not been able to defend native tribes from terrorist attacks throughout the nation, but they are still determined to crush IPOB and ESN.
Allegedly, the government is using sit-at-home orders to undermine IPOB.
The Nigerian Army and Police were charged by IPOB with deliberately implementing the sit-at-home demonstrations in an effort to undermine the movement.
They claimed that on Mondays, security agents have started making arrests of young men in rural areas to give the impression that IPOB is responsible for the disturbances.
“The Nigerian government hired heartless criminals known as Autopiloters to pose as IPOB and ESN, kill, and destroy in the name of enforcing a sit-at-home that IPOB had already suspended.” “They wanted to deceive Ndigbo into thinking that IPOB was ruining their economy,” the organization claimed.
Nowadays, sitting at home is a sign of protest against injustice.
Ndigbo have unilaterally decided to observe the Monday sit-at-home as a form of resistance, according to IPOB, despite the government’s efforts to discredit the organization.
“Monday sit-at-home was started by the IIPOB and suspended following its first successful compliance. We have consistently denounced the Nigerian Army and Police’s harsh implementation of the sit-at-home policy. Nonetheless, the statement went on to say that Ndigbo who want to spend Mondays at home do so in support of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, our leader who has been unlawfully kidnapped and imprisoned.
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IPOB Dismisses Efforts to Quit the Movement
The Nigerian government has long repressed the Igbo people politically, socially, and economically, and IPOB reaffirmed that no amount of threats or military action could persuade Ndigbo to give up their cause.
“The Nigerian Army should abandon the plan to use extortion and guns to destroy IPOB since it is an unachievable task. IPOB has a strong survivalist mindset at its core. The group claimed that the more Nigeria rejects and oppresses Ndigbo, the more the IPOB ideology is strengthened.
Demanding Conversation and Kanu’s Release
The statement called on the administration to stop employing military intimidation and instead have real talks. It made the case that addressing Nnamdi Kanu’s ongoing detention—the primary cause of the sit-at-home protests—is the only way to put an end to them.
Instead of attempting to stifle a peaceful, non-violent civic activity, IPOB stated that the Nigerian military should concentrate on actual security issues. Any reasonable government would negotiate with its people to gain their trust, but in Nigeria, military coercion and force are used in every situation.
Blackmailing IPOB and ESN won’t affect the people’s will, IPOB said in closing, calling the Nigerian government and Southeast governors to free Nnamdi Kanu if they truly want the Monday sit-at-home to cease.
