According to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the current Monday sit-at-home demonstration in the South-East is a Ndigbo protest over the continuous detention of their leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, rather than a mandate.
In a statement, IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary Emma Powerful denied that the group is implementing the weekly shutdown, stating that the civil action can only be terminated by Kanu’s unconditional release.
The Nigerian government was accused by IPOB of destroying its reputation by coercion and blackmail while ignoring the true problem, which is the demand for justice and self-determination.
Arguments for Kanu’s Release Are Rejected by IPOB
In the statement, it was stated that “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 blackmail IPOB and the Eastern Security Network (ESN) with Monday sit-at-home because we are a disciplined self-determination movement and have long disassociated ourselves from it.”
The unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu is the only way to halt the sit-at-home protests, IPOB emphasized. Ndigbo are being oppressed by Kanu’s detention, the group claimed, which is encouraging more resistance.
ESN’s Contribution to Biafra Land Protection
Asserting that their efforts had kept state-sponsored terrorists from transforming the area into a “mass grave,” the statement emphasized the Eastern Security Network’s (ESN) role in protecting Ndigbo.
In preventing terrorists from posing as ranchers, ESN agents are suffering a great deal. The Nigerian military and administration target and blackmail ESN every day in an effort to destroy all Biafran defenses. ESN is still Ndigbo’s last line of defense, the group said.
IPOB claims that despite their inability to defend native tribes from terrorist attacks throughout the nation, the Nigerian military is still determined to crush IPOB and ESN.
Sit-at-home order allegedly enforced by the government to discredit IPOB
In an effort to undermine the campaign, IPOB charged that the Nigerian Army and Police were deliberately implementing the sit-at-home demonstrations.
To give the impression that IPOB is responsible for the disturbances, they said that security agents have been making Monday arrests of young men in rural areas.
In the name of enforcing a sit-at-home that IPOB had already suspended, the Nigerian government hired heartless criminals known as Autopiloters to pose as IPOB and ESN, kill, and destroy. They were trying to convince Ndigbo that IPOB was ruining their economy, the organization claimed.
A Symbol of Protest Against Injustice: Sitting at Home
IPOB maintains that Ndigbo have deliberately decided to observe the Monday sit-at-home as a form of resistance, despite the government’s efforts to discredit the organization.
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“After its initial successful compliance, the IIPOB started and halted the Monday sit-at-home. As part of the Nigerian Army and Police, we have consistently denounced the use of violence to enforce the sit-at-home. The statement also stated that Ndigbo people who choose to spend Mondays sitting at home do so in support of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, our leader who has been unlawfully kidnapped and imprisoned.
Rejecting Efforts to Quit the Movement, IPOB
Noting that the Nigerian government had long persecuted the Igbo people politically, socially, and economically, IPOB announced that no amount of threats or military action could persuade Ndigbo to give up their campaign.
Because it is impossible, the Nigerian Army should abandon the plan to eliminate IPOB with guns and extortion. A strong survival ideology is the foundation of IPOB. The IPOB group claimed that the more Ndigbo people are rejected and oppressed by Nigeria, the more the ideology is strengthened.
Call for Communication and the Release of Kanu
The government was asked in the declaration to use constructive discussion rather than military intimidation. Addressing the underlying issue—Nnamdi Kanu’s ongoing detention—is the only way to genuinely put an end to the sit-at-home protests, it claimed.
IPOB stated that rather than attempting to stifle a voluntary, non-violent civic activity, the Nigerian military ought to concentrate on actual security issues. In Nigeria, everything is done by military force and intimidation, but any responsible government would negotiate to gain the trust of its people.
According to IPOB’s conclusion, blackmailing IPOB and ESN won’t alter the people’s desire, thus if the Nigerian government and Southeast governors truly want the Monday sit-at-home to end, they should free Nnamdi Kanu.
