The Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) says its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu, ordered it to suspend the weekly sit-at-home exercise which began on Monday.
The seccessionist group demanding the actualization of the defunct Biafra Republic recently declared every Monday to observe the sit-at-home exercise aimed at forcing the federal government to released Mr Kanu who is currently being detained at the headquarters of the State Security Service (SSS).
On Friday, IPOB announced the suspension of the exercise which recorded pockets of violence in some states in the South East region. It said the sit-at-home will now be observed on dates its leader will appear in court.
Confirming the suspension, Emma Powerful, the spokesman of the group said the decision is a directive from the IPOB leader.
“The leadership of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) understands the concerns being expressed by the global IPOB family on the suspension of the weekly sit-at-home earlier announced by the IPOB Head of Directorate of State of the Indigenous people of Biafra,” Mr Powerful said in a statement on Saturday.
“We know that our people embraced this civil action wholeheartedly and without any compulsion. The leadership sincerely appreciate the innate desire of Biafrans to sacrifice their time, resources and energy in ensuring that our leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is released unconditionally from the illegal custody of the Nigerian State who criminally gave him away from Kenya to Nigeria.
“The suspension of the sit-at-home by the IPOB Head of Directorate was as a result of a direct order from the leader of this great movement, Nnamdi Kanu.
“There is no gainsaying the fact that one of the major fundamental guiding principles of IPOB is command and control. This simply means that all commands from the supreme leader of IPOB will be obeyed and implemented to the latter by the Directorate of State of the Indigenous People of Biafra.
“Bearing in mind therefore that this principle has enabled this movement to surpass even the expectations of both Biafrans and non-Biafrans alike, the leadership wishes to encourage Biafran to focus on the most pressing issue confronting this great family presently which is ensuring the safety of our leader while still in the illegal custody of the DSS and to secure his unconditional release from detention.
“In accordance with the directive from our leader, our sit-at-home will in the meantime be observed on the date of our leader’s court appearances.
“The lPOB leadership urges Biafrans worldwide to take note of the next court appearance of our leader which is the 21st of October 2021.
“Any other information regarding Sit-At-Home in Biafraland not emanating from IPOB through our main channels of information dissemination should be disregarded. The Nigeria government should heed now to the voice of reason coming from within Nigeria and from outside the shores of Nigeria to unconditionally free our leader, Nnamdi Kanu, and announce a date for Biafra referendum or plebiscite where our people will choose where they wish to be long before it is too late,” he added.
