The Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) has dared President Muhammadu Buhari by imposing lockdown on the South-East geo-political zone.
The lockdown often complied with by residents of the five states in the Igbo predominant area will begin from November 5 to November 10, exempting November 7 which is on Sunday for worshippers to go to church.
The directive, contained in a statement issued by Emma Powerful, spokesman of the separatist group on Saturday, said the exercise will only be halted if its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu is released before the commencement date.
“We wish to inform Biafrans, friends of Biafra and lovers of freedom that IPOB will lock down Biafra land from November 5 to November 10 except Sunday, November 7, a day our people worship the Almighty God, Chukwu Okike Abiama,” Mr Powerful announced.
“Following the adjournment of our great leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s court case to November 10 2021, by the Federal High Court Abuja, we the great movement and family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) wish to inform Biafrans, friends of Biafra and lovers of freedom that IPOB will lock down Biafra land from November 5 to November 10 except Sunday, November 7, a day our people worship the Almighty God, Chukwu Okike Abiama, if the Nigeria Government fails to release our leader unconditionally before November 4, 2021.
“Our leader, Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi, MUST be released UNCONDITIONALLY on or before November 4, 2021, because he has not committed any offense known to any law. Failure to release our leader Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi KANU on or before November 4, 2021, our one-week Sit-At-Home begins on November 5, 2021, till November 10.
“We cannot accept that anymore. We can never allow our leader Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi KANU to be tried SECRETLY and we can never also allow him to be tried under SHARIA law under any guise. NIGERIA must follow International laws in handling our leader.
“Mazi Nnamdi KANU is in DSS dungeon today because of his passion for Biafra independence, and we must sacrifice all we can to ensure that he regains his freedom. He has sacrificed so much for us all, so we must be prepared.
“He is innocent of all the charges preferred against him. As long as he is in detention, our individual businesses do not matter so much because he is suffering for us all and we can’t abandon him. We seriously regret the inconveniences this may cause our people.”
The directive of the foremost secessionist group comes barely two days after Mr Buhari ordered security chiefs to ensure nothing stops the forthcoming gubernatorial election scheduled for November 6.
“The president has directed that under no circumstances will anything be allowed to stop the elections from taking place successfully. The people have a right to vote and select their leader,” the national security adviser, Babagana Monguno quoted his principal as directing security chief during a meeting. “No group or individual will be allowed to stimulate anarchy and chaos, leading to murderous activities.
“The president has made it very clear that the armed forces and all law enforcement agencies must make sure that the elections take place, even if it means overwhelming the entire environment with the presence of security agencies.
“There are so many implications for elections to be sabotaged by non-state actors. In the first place, we are in a democracy; secondly, it is important to note that if these non-state actors should succeed in destroying the potentials for orderly elections, then it is natural that other parts of the country would also want to copy this same situation.”
