Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State said his administration will sanction schools and businesses that obeyed the two-day sit-at-home declared by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPoB.
Secretary to the State Government, Chidiebere Onyia, stated this at a joint press conference addressed by the government and security chiefs after a tour of schools, businesses, financial institutions and markets in Enugu on Monday.
The security chiefs are the Garrison Commander, 82 Division, Nigerian Army, Brigadier-General Steven Dogo; Director of the Department of State Services in Enugu, Theresa Egbunu and the state police commissioner, Anayo Uzuegbu.
The factional Leader of IPoB, Simeon Ekpa, had declared Monday and Tuesday sit-at-home in the entire South-East.
Onyia said for those teachers and private or public schools that had decided not to show up to school on Monday, the Enugu government, as a policy, would ensure that they are sanctioned adequately.
“This also applies to markets, businesses, financial institutions and the rest of them. We insist on zero compliance to an illegal directive,” he said.
This economic sabotage must stop, Igbo youths tell Tinubu
Meanwhile, Coalition of South-East Youth Leaders, COSEYL, has expressed grave concerns over the incessant sit-at-home order, causing chaos in the region.
Parts of the region experienced a partial economic shutdown on Monday following the sit-at-home order declared by faceless individuals.
In a statement, yesterday, by its President-General, Goodluck Ibem, COSEYL lamented the negative impacts of the exercise on the region’s economy, saying: “We cannot continue like this as a people. This madness must stop.”
Ibem said the orders are usually from “unknown persons through voice notes and videos.”
The coalition also called on President Bola Tinubu to release the IPoB leader as a means of ending “this embarrassing situation where individuals use the incarceration of Kanu to inflict pain, hardship and economic stagnation in the zone.
“We appeal to President Bola Tinubu to consider the release of Nnamdi Kanu from DSS custody to put a stop to all forms of economic sabotage which are injurious to the growth and development of the nation.”
