IPOB ends Monday sit-at-home in South-East, orders full return to normal activities
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has announced the immediate cancellation of the Monday sit-at-home observed across Nigeria’s south-east.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Emma Powerful, the group’s spokesperson, said the decision followed a directive from Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB’s detained leader. He urged residents to resume normal activities, including reopening markets, returning to work, and sending children back to school without fear.
According to Powerful, Kanu concluded that there was no longer any basis for continued shutdowns on Mondays, stressing that the order applies with immediate effect.
“The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), under the leadership of Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, hereby announces that the Monday sit-at-home across the South-East has been officially and permanently cancelled,” the statement said.
The group warned that any individual or group attempting to impose or enforce a sit-at-home going forward would be acting contrary to Kanu’s instructions.
The Monday sit-at-home was first introduced in 2021 to protest Kanu’s arrest and continued detention after his extradition from Kenya to Nigeria, where he is facing terrorism-related charges. What began as a protest linked to court appearances later evolved into a weekly shutdown across parts of the south-east.
Although IPOB had previously announced a suspension of the sit-at-home, adherence persisted in many areas, largely due to fear, threats, and violent enforcement by armed actors. The practice resulted in widespread economic disruption, school closures, and repeated appeals by state governments for residents to disregard the order.
In recent months, some south-east governors have taken stronger steps to dismantle the practice. Chukwuma Soludo, governor of Anambra, ordered markets and schools to reopen on Mondays, warning that the state would no longer tolerate enforced closures.
Soludo also directed that markets shut under the pretext of sit-at-home be reopened and threatened sanctions against public servants, including salary deductions, for workers who fail to report for duty. He maintained that there is no officially sanctioned sit-at-home policy in the state.
In response, IPOB accused some state governments of intimidation, alleging that traders and workers were subjected to threats, market shutdowns, and demolition warnings. The group argued that citizens cannot be compelled to open their businesses if they choose to stay at home for personal reasons.
Nevertheless, IPOB reaffirmed that Kanu has now ordered a complete end to the Monday sit-at-home and urged residents of the south-east to go about their lawful activities peacefully.
“The era of Monday sit-at-home is over,” the group said, calling on the public to remain calm, law-abiding, and vigilant.
