The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has cautioned Anambra State Governor Charles Soludo against intimidating citizens taking part in the planned Monday sit-at-home protest.
Speaking via a statement by its spokesperson, Emma Powerful, IPOB insisted that the sit-at-home is a peaceful and legal expression of solidarity with detained leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu .
The group warned Soludo against establishing any form of task forces to coerce citizens into opening shops on Monday, stating that it would be an act of provocation and oppression.
His statement read in part “Let it be stated clearly and without ambiguity: Anambra is not a military barracks. The people are not tenants in their own land. 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, non-violent expression of conscience.
“Governor Soludo, as a man who parades the title “Professor,” should be the first to recognise the elementary democratic principle called civil disobedience, a peaceful refusal to cooperate with policies and conditions viewed as unjust.
“If businessmen, traders, students, professionals, elders and youths voluntarily choose to sit at home on Mondays as a silent protest against the continued detention and persecution of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, that is their right. It is not a crime. It is not rebellion. It is not an offence.
“A government that turns peaceful protest into punishable misconduct is simply declaring war on the people’s dignity. Governor Soludo must not pretend he does not understand what is happening. Nobody is deceived.
“The frustration in Igboland is deep. The anger is justified. The pain is historic. And the Monday sit-at-home is a token expression of that collective burden
“But instead of confronting the injustice that fuels agitation, the Governor has chosen the weak and disgraceful route of harassing his own people to be seen as “loyal” by Abuja power brokers who have shown nothing but contempt for Igbo lives and Igbo dignity.
“When criminal violence is tolerated elsewhere, and killers are pampered, negotiated with, and incentivised under “rehabilitation,” it is a tragedy that an Igbo governor would devote his energy to threatening traders, punishing youths, and blackmailing citizens for choosing to stay in their homes peacefully.
“We issue this warning in the strongest possible terms: If Governor Soludo, in his desperation for applause, proceeds to establish any task force, enforcement squad, or vigilante-style unit to coerce citizens into opening shops through threats, extortion, harassment, arrests, or intimidation, then he has crossed a red line. That will not be governance, that will be provocation ,that will be oppression.
“And the people will treat it for what it is: an open declaration of hostility against the spirit of Biafra and the collective resolve of Igbo.
“We do not force people to sit at home. But no government will force them to go out. The sit-at-home is voluntary. It is a choice. It is a personal and collective statement of solidarity. People who stay home on Mondays do so because they believe sacrifice is part of the struggle for justice and freedom.
“Governor Soludo should focus on the mandate he begged for: security, infrastructure, jobs, and development. If he truly believes in the “Dubai” rhetoric he sold to Anambra people, then he should deliver it through competence not coercion.
“A governor who fights traders for protesting injustice is not building Dubai. He is building resentment. He is planting a division. He is igniting a fire he cannot control.
“The solution is not threats. The solution is justice. The solution is the release of Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu who is the symbol of our freedom and hope.
“Until that injustice is addressed, every Monday will remain a day of silent protest. Not by decree. Not by violence. But by conscience.”