The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has strongly criticised Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, over his threat to sanction civil servants who fail to report to work on Mondays due to the sit-at-home observed across parts of the South-East.
The pro-Biafra group described the governor’s warning as an attempt to intimidate citizens and suppress what it called a legal and peaceful civil protest. IPOB insisted that the sit-at-home exercise is a voluntary action by the people to express solidarity with its detained leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
Governor Soludo had earlier warned that civil servants in Anambra State who do not come to work on Mondays would have their salaries withheld. He said the sit-at-home order was hurting the state’s economy and discouraging investors, stressing that his administration would no longer tolerate it.
However, in a statement issued on Sunday by IPOB’s spokesman, Emma Powerful, the group rejected the governor’s position, saying he had no legal or moral right to force people to leave their homes against their will.
The statement, titled “Soludo must respect people’s will: Monday sit-at-home is a legal, peaceful civil protest, not a crime,” accused the governor of acting against the interest of his own people.
According to IPOB, Anambra State is not a military zone and its residents are not tenants who must obey orders that violate their rights.
“The people are not tenants in their own land,” the statement said. “No governor has the lawful power to compel free citizens to open their businesses or move about against their will, especially when their action is a peaceful and non-violent expression of conscience.”
The group stressed that the sit-at-home is not an act of terrorism or rebellion, but a form of civil disobedience recognised in democratic societies around the world.
IPOB said Governor Soludo, who is an academic and former university lecturer, should understand the basic principles of democracy, including the right of citizens to protest peacefully against perceived injustice.
It explained that many residents of the South-East voluntarily stay indoors on Mondays as a way of expressing frustration over the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB, who has been in the custody of the Federal Government since 2021.
“If businessmen, traders, students, professionals, elders and youths choose to sit at home on Mondays as a silent protest, that is their right,” IPOB said. “It is not a crime. It is not violence. It is not an offence under any law.”
The group warned that any government that treats peaceful protest as misconduct is attacking the dignity and freedom of its own people.
IPOB also accused the Anambra governor of trying to impress the Federal Government in Abuja at the expense of the people who elected him into office.
According to the statement, the frustration in the South-East is deep and rooted in years of perceived marginalisation, insecurity and injustice.
“The anger is real. The pain is historic,” IPOB said. “The Monday sit-at-home is a small expression of that collective suffering.”
The group criticised what it described as selective justice in Nigeria, where criminal violence is allegedly tolerated in some parts of the country, while peaceful protests in the South-East are met with threats and intimidation.
It said it was unfortunate that an Igbo governor would focus on punishing traders and threatening civil servants instead of addressing the issues driving agitation in the region.
IPOB further warned Governor Soludo against setting up any task force or enforcement unit to compel residents to open their shops or go to work on Mondays.
The group said such a move would amount to provocation and oppression, and would worsen tension in the state.
“If the governor sets up any task force or squad to harass, arrest or intimidate people for staying at home, he will be crossing a red line,” the statement warned. “That will not be governance. That will be provocation.”
IPOB insisted that it does not force anyone to observe the sit-at-home, stressing that participation is voluntary.
“We do not force people to sit at home,” the group said. “But no government should force them to go out. People stay at home because they believe sacrifice is part of the struggle for justice.”
The group advised Governor Soludo to focus on governance rather than threats, urging him to deliver on his campaign promises of security, infrastructure, jobs and economic development.
“If the governor truly believes in the development vision he sold to the people, he should deliver it through competence, not coercion,” IPOB said.
It added that threatening traders and civil servants would only create resentment and deepen division in the state.
The sit-at-home exercise in the South-East began several years ago as a protest demanding the release of Nnamdi Kanu, who is facing terrorism-related charges. Although IPOB later announced the suspension of the exercise, many residents continue to observe it out of fear, solidarity, or protest against the continued detention of Kanu.
The exercise has had a significant impact on the economy of the region, with businesses, schools and banks often shut on Mondays. State governments in the South-East have repeatedly called for an end to the practice, citing economic losses and insecurity.
IPOB maintained that the real solution to the sit-at-home problem lies in addressing the root cause.
“The solution is not threats,” the group said. “The solution is justice. The solution is the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”
The group warned Governor Soludo to stop threatening the people of Anambra and the wider Igbo community, reminding him that his duty is to protect and serve the people, not to intimidate them.
“The people are not his enemies,” IPOB said. “History has never been kind to leaders who attack their own people to impress external masters.”