By Austin Ogwuda
DESPITE the spirited attempt by the Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo to end sit-at-home palaver to the extent of threatening traders, banks, schools and others who fail to open for business on Mondays, it has degenerated.
The issue of compliance which has not yielded reasonable result got worse today (Monday) following a trending video circulating on social media warning residents of the South-East to remain indoors on October 21 (today ) and 22, saying that those days have been declared sit-at-home.
Although the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has asked South-East residents to ignore any declaration of sit-at-home on October 21 and 22, insisting that the order did not emanate from them ended up falling on deaf ears.
Reports reaching The Townhall said the the trending video ignited the renewed fear and tension resulting to panic situation particularly in Anambra State, whereby some official and non-official engagements fixed for those days have either been put on hold or rescheduled.
Punch Correspondent reported that cases earlier scheduled for the two days at various Courts were discovered to have been rescheduled.
When asked, one of the Court Clerks at a High Court in Onitsha (name withheld) simply said, “We heard they have declared October 21 and 22 as a sit-at-home and that necessitated the rescheduling of every engagement on those days. It was rescheduled since last week.
“The reason for the rescheduling of the cases coming up on those days is to avoid a situation where hoodlums will hijack the vehicle that may be conveying suspects to the court from the prisons”.
Similarly, there was a notice notifying parents and students about the postponement of activities was also displayed in one of the schools visited in Onitsha.
The notice reads, “Announcement: Good evening Dear Parents and guardians. Based on the circulating threats from IPOB, be notified that there will be no school on Monday and Tuesday, 21st and 22nd October 2024. This is strictly for security reasons. In essence, it is a precautionary measure.
“Mid-term Break begins on Wednesday, 23rd October, 2024. Therefore, students are expected to resume school on Monday, 28th October, 2024. Thanks and Remain Blessed. Signed: Management”.
Apart from the official engagements rescheduled there was also panic buying on Sunday in major markets across the cities as customers were seen engaging in last-minute transactions to avoid being stranded, according to Punch report.
In his reaction, the IPOB’s spokesman, Emma Powerful was reported saying that “IPOB did not declare any sit-at-home order on October 21 and 22. The illegal order is from criminal elements and Finland-based infiltrators who are not our members.
“We urged our people to ignore the order and go about their normal business on those days. IPOB does not want to talk about it because we don’t want to create panic over the matter.
“Biafrans must understand that IPOB does not declare unnecessary sit-at-home. We have since suspended it and anybody declaring it is a criminal element that should be ignored”.
Credit: Punch
