Faridat Ogundairo
Residents of Enugu state have defied Governor Peter Mbah’s directives and stayed at home on Monday morning, despite assurances of adequate security.
The governor had in the previous week issued a directive , mandating all offices, including public and private institutions, to resume business operations on Monday, warning that non-compliance would result in sanctions.
Mbah had also assured the public of adequate security measures and stated that the Enugu State police command was on high alert to prevent any security breaches.
However, Simon Ekpa, the Finland-based leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra’s autopilot arm, responded with a counter-threat, claiming that no Nigerian government had authority in Biafra land.
Ekpa insisted on the continuation of the Monday sit-at-home protest across the seven Igbo-speaking states in the southeast and south-south regions.
The conflicting orders and threats seemed to overwhelm the residents, prompting them to stay indoors to avoid potential harm.
A resident, Mike Ogbu expressed fear and apprehension due to the threats and counter threats from both the state government and Simon Ekpa.
He mentioned the violent incidents that occurred during the Anambra governorship election, where he believed the governor could have taken a different approach.
Ogbu questioned how civil servants could go to work without available transportation and suggested that the governor focus on mitigating the effects of the recent fuel price increase.
He believed that people chose to stay at home to avoid confrontation with IPOB and the potential violence that had occurred in Anambra and Imo states.
“I expected that Governor Peter Mbah would have used the Anambra example to do his own differently. Soludo came with such force in Anambra and the result was several killings. How can civil servants go to work when buses are not on the road?
“What I expected the new Governor to address is how to cushion the effects of this fuel price increase that people can be going to work and not to engage in confrontation with the Biafra people which you know how they have held Anambra and Imo states to ransom; or is that what you want to happen here? I think that this is the reason people have chosen to stay in their homes, if you want to sack them from work, fine, but they will not seen death and put their heads,” Ogbu said.
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