Igbo Group Condemns IPOB’s Forced Sit-at-home Order

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

A pan-Igbo group, Igbonine Sociocultural Organisation(ISO) has flayed the sit-at-home order allegedly declared by separatist group, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) that has led to the loss lives, the shutting down of businesses, banks, schools and markets in the past seven days.

At a press briefing yesterday in Abuja, the President General, Igbonine, Chief Emeka Okonkwo, said the forced order was destroying Igbo enterprise and causing economic hardship and ruin to the businesses of their people, who were losing income on a daily basis in spite of their enterprise and acknowledged dynamism.

He warned that South-east zone can no longer continue on the voyage of self-destruction and cutting off its nose in order to spite the face.

He said there would be more hunger and poverty if businesses were not allowed to thrive in the zone.

“We are constrained to call the attention of our brothers and sisters, who are giving overt or covert support to the misguided youths involved in this damage to the psyche, lives and welfare of the people living in the south-east to the negative impact of their actions on Ndigbo. The state of affairs in the South-east is capable of completely destroying the enterprise of the Igbo man and reversing the gains of Akuluonu (the philosophy of bringing back investment from the rest of the country and ploughing it to the south-east),” Okonkwo said.

The group called on all strata of leadership in the South-east, religious leaders, Ohaneze Ndigbo and its affiliates, town unions, community leaders, village heads and age- groups to determine how to end the actions of self-immolation in Igboland.

Okonkwo described Igbo as serious minded and enterprising people, who toil to create wealth for themselves and society.

He said sitting at home and indolence were not part of Igbo culture while urging the people to return to work to continue to develop the south-east and Nigeria at large.

He said the failure of the political class to address basic societal needs of security of lives and property and a healthy economy is allowing opportunist ethnic promoters to capitalize and almost succeed in dismembering the country.

He said rather than institutionalise May 29 as stay-at-home day to commemorate Biafran Day, events should be organised to mark that day in remembrance of those that died during the Civil War.

Igbonine also condemned the murder of the priest in charge of St Andrew’s Anglican Church in Ihitte Ukwa, Imo State, Rev. Emeka Mezenu on Tuesday for allegedly defying the forced stay at home order and allowing students to sit for West African Senior Secondary School Examination at his Parish the previous day, making the students to lose one year of their academic life.

He said they had tried without success to talk with the leadership of IPOB, which is divergent in nature. He blamed miscreants for being behind the pockets of crisis in the South-east.