As the deadline for the beginning of the two-week sit-at-home declared by the IPOB fugitive, Simon Ekpa, looms, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has declared an end to all sit-at-home orders, including the Monday sit-at-home and any other proposed thereof aimed at forcing the government to release him from DSS dungeon.
The implication, according to dome analysts is the likely return of peace thst could enhance the paralyzed economic and business activities in the area. After an unprovoked one-week sit-at-home order that lasted from July 3 to July 10, which further wrecked the already devastated economy of the beleaguered Southeast region, the Finland-based, self-proclaimed pro-Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa, announced that there will be a two-week sit-at-home in Southeast region starting from July 31. In a tweet on Tuesday, July 11, Ekpa also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu who was arrested and detained on charges bordering on terrorism, treasonable felony, managing an unlawful society and publication of defamatory matter, amongst others. “Following the demand by the Biafra people for more sit-at-home civil disobedience, the Biafra Republic Government In-Exile (BRGIE) and Biafra De Facto Government In Homeland wish to notify Biafrans that there will be a sit-at-home civil disobedience starting from 31 July, 2023 to 14 August, 2023,” Ekpa said. Ekpa warned that failure to comply with the order will attract ‘heavy consequences’. He added: “From Monday, 7th August to Friday, 11 August, there will be total lockdown in Biafraland while on Saturday, 12 August and Sunday, 13 August 2023, there will be a break as all Biafran markets will open. “On Monday, 14 August, there will be lockdown in Biafraland. We hereby call on all market leaders to strictly adhere to this order and treat it with utmost seriousness. “We also call on all oil companies operating in the Biafran territory to shutdown oil exploration on these dates to avoid the anger of the Biafran people, which may come with heavy consequences.”
Though the mainstream IPOB family had dissociated itself from the sit-at-home malaise, many had besieged Nnamdi Kanu to personally intervene and disown Ekpa if, indeed, he was not in support.
That he did on Friday when he strongly pushed back at Ekpa’s deadly antics. Kanu made the declaration in a handwritten letter, which his special counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, read out to journalists during a world press conference held in Enugu State on Friday. Kanu in the written declaration dated July 24, 2023 which Barrister Ejimakor read, followed the refusal of Simon Ekpa, a self-acclaimed disciple, to announce the cancellation and further declaration through his media platforms. Kanu, however, warned Ekpa to “desist from calling for any sit-at-home henceforth” and “to make a public announcement to the effect that he (Mazi Simon Ekpa) is in receipt of a direct order from him (Mazi Nnamdi Kanu) to cancel any pending sit-at-home in place at the moment”. The full statement reads: “This Public Announcement bears (as shall be reproduced below) the unedited, verbatim Instructions containing a Direct Order personally issued by MAZI NNAMDI KANU in his own handwriting on 24th July, 2023 through me to MAZI SIMON EKPA, instructing him to ‘desist from calling for any Sit-at-Home henceforth’ and ‘to make a public announcement to the effect that he (Mazi Simon Ekpa) is in receipt of a direct order from him (Mazi Nnamdi Kanu) to cancel any pending Sit-at-Home in place at the moment’; and also that he (Mazi Nnamdi KAnu) has, by the same order, ‘authorized me to issue a press statement if he (Mazi Simon Ekpa) fails to make this announcement on his platform’.
“For avoidance of doubt, this Direct Order was personally handed to me by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu when I visited him on the said 24th July, 2023 at the headquarters of the Department of State Security (DSS), Abuja. Later that day, I tried to contact Mazi Simon Ekpa via his WhatsApp number but could not reach him until 1:44AMthe following day (25th July, 2023), whereupon I snapped the Direct Order as written and sent to him. He thereafter acknowledged receipt and we spoke briefly on it and exchanged a couple text messages thereof. “Since that early 25th July, 2023 (when I conveyed the Order to Mazi EKPA and he duly acknowledged it, he has not implemented the Order or otherwise made such announcement on his media platform. Nonetheless, I made a conscious decision to give him the benefit of doubt and thereby accord him more time to do the needful. “Then, late yesterday, further written Instructions was issued by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to me, referring to the extant Direct Order to Mazi Ekpa and, in addition, instructing me that given that Mazi Ekpa has not carried out the Order, I must, as of today, being 28th July 2023, proceed to make the Order public through a Public Announcement/ Press Statement. In the said further Instructions, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu added more pertinent details and instructed that I must equally make them public.
“Accordingly, and as of Counsel, bound by duty and the solemn oath of my noble profession to faithfully and zealously implement my Client’s clear Instructions without any fear or favor, I now therefore reproduce verbatim the contents of said Direct Order to Mazi Simon Ekpa (at the first Paragraph) and the related further Instructions (from the second Paragraph to the end), as follows: The Order of Nnamdi Kanu to Simon Ekpa “Simon, this is a direct order from me. I hereby instruct you to desist from calling for any Sit-at-Home henceforth. Equally refrain from antagonizing Governors or persons in political positions because you are not in a position to know what they are doing on my behalf. I am ordering you to make a public announcement to the effect that you are in receipt of a direct order from me to cancel any pending Sit-at-Home in place at the moment. I embarked on this movement to liberate our people not to enslave them. I despise and will despise any person or entity that wishes to inflict unnecessary hardship on our people. I have authorized Aloy to issue a press statement if you fail to make this announcement on your platform. “Anybody still engaging in Sit-at-Home is not my disciple. Haters of Biafra and mindless murderers in uniform are hiding under the cover of combating enforcers of Sit-at-Home to unleash mayhem against the same people we swore to defend. “I have sent countless messages to those purportedly enforcing Sit-at-Home that they are not doing so in my name. I am not begging anybody to release me just that Nigeria should have the decency to obey their own laws. “The main issue which our people should address their minds to is the unconscionable delays in hearing the government appeal at the Supreme Court, which is a situation not amenable to any Sit-at-Home. Therefore Sit-at-Home is a waste of time, resources and energy. “Those who may not understand the genesis of the Sit-at-Home should refer to my younger brother’s press statement on the eve of the commencement of the original order issued by the IPOB family. My brother made it clear to the DOS that I was against the order for people to stay at home under whatever guise. This caused a rift between my siblings and DOS till date. “Aloy should use the above contributions to form the main body of the press statement. I want our people to know how this whole sit-at-home brouhaha started. Had DOS obeyed my direct instructions to cancel the first Monday Sit-at-Home, opportunistic scavengers would not have jumped on the bandwagon to wreak havoc on our people.” “You (Aloy) must release the press statement tomorrow with the screenshot of the handwritten note I gave to you unfailingly”. Alloy concludes the statement “In conclusion, I hereby affirm upon my honor as of Counsel that above words (in quotation) and the attached handwritten note are the words of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and his handwriting.” Below are the statements and letters as presented by Barrister Aloy Ejimakor
