Sophia Michaels
One-week sit-at-home declared in the Southeast by Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa has failed, according to TheNation.
The newspaper reported that many residents of the five Southeast states went about their normal activities yesterday in defiance of the one-week sit-at-home order.
Most markets, schools, banks, offices and streets boomed, unlike the hesitancy witnessed on Tuesday.
Simon Ekpa, the leader of Autopilot, a faction of the IPOB, had, in a statement on June 14, announced that there would be a one-week sit-at-home in the region.
Ekpa, a self-proclaimed Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic Government in Exile, said the sit-at-home would hold from 3 to 5 July and continue from Friday, 7 to 10 July.
He said it was aimed at demanding the “immediate and unconditional release” of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who is in Federal Government detention.
But the sit-at-home order failed across the states, while attempts by hoodlums to enforce it, mostly failed.
In Enugu, the state government said an attack by the hoodlums was repelled by the police.
The Nation reports that public activities were booming in the state capital, Enugu, before panic started at about 10.30am, following rumours of shootings in some parts of Enugu by would-be enforcers of the order.
But senior special assistant to Governor Peter Mbah on new media, Reuben Onyishi, said the accompanying videos of shootings in some parts of the state were fake.
According to him, the hoodlums who attempted to enforce sit-at-home order in the state, were “capably engaged and their target operation foiled, whereupon they took to their heels in their Sienna bus, seeking to escape. They are currently on the run as the security men are on their trail”.
“They had tried to replicate what reportedly happened at Ishieke, Ebonyi State on Tuesday in Enugu this morning, but were capably repelled by a crack team of the security agents who had proactively pre-empted their targets.”
He said claims that there were shootings in Abakpa or Emene were being circulated by mischief makers on social media to scare the people.
Business and commercial activities were in full gear in all parts of the Anambra State, including Onitsha, Nnewi and Awka which were notorious for killings, kidnappings and other vices.
The state was relatively calm and peaceful, with schools and markets in full swing except for a few banks which offered skeletal services.
In Imo, the state government said claims that gunmen attacked the state secretariat along the Port Harcourt road were false.
There had been unconfirmed reports of sporadic shootings at the secretariat that caused workers to scamper for safety.
But a statement by the state Chief Press Secretary, Oguwike Nwachuku said there was no such incident.
“What happened was that the police trailed a suspect in a case to the Secretariat to effect his arrest in an alleged criminal matter.
“It was in the attempt to effect the person’s arrest that the police fired warning shots,” Nwachuku added.
Meanwhile in other parts of the state capital Owerri, many braved the odds to attend to their daily needs.
Markets, business centres and restaurants were open for business along major streets in the Owerri metropolis.
Nevertheless, some residents remained indoors, while some primary and secondary schools did not open.
In Abia, residents of the state capital Umuahia, and the commercial nerve Aba for the second day in a row shunned the sit-at-home order.
The Nation recalls that there were reported cases of burning of automobiles in Aba by sit-at-home enforcers on Monday, but which was countered by a show of force parade by security agencies that lasted for hours.
However, our correspondent reports that major markets, government institutions, schools and other private facilities including banks in both cities opened for operations despite the ceaseless downpour.
Inter and intra-city transportation services were at their peak as most public transport companies were open for business.
Some of the traders who spoke to our correspondent said that they recorded increased patronage, unlike Tuesday.
A trader, Mr. Fidelis Okere, said: “We got calls from our customers asking if we opened for business. It was because the sit-at-home was not effective here, that we are seeing the city busier than yesterday (Tuesday).”
There was cautiousness in Ebonyi, with some banks and filling stations not opening till about noon.
Nevertheless, most major markets in Abakaliki, the state capital, opened, as did schools and other businesses. Some filling stations remained shut while others opened for business.
Security agencies were stationed in strategic places to ward off any attacks while a joint security team patrolled the city in a motorcade.
