The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has clarified that the sit-at-home observed on February 2 in parts of Onitsha was a one-off action and not a return to the weekly Monday lockdowns previously seen in the South-East.
IPOB spokesperson, Emma Powerful, said the action was a reaction to what the group described as the increasingly authoritarian posture of Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, particularly following tensions with traders in Onitsha. He stressed that IPOB has not reinstated any policy of weekly sit-at-home.
Powerful recalled that the Monday sit-at-home began in August 2021 to demand the release of IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who was then in the custody of the Department of State Services. He said the action was later cancelled on Kanu’s directive after widespread concerns about its negative impact on the Igbo economy.
According to him, the cancellation was widely welcomed, and IPOB repeatedly distanced itself from criminal elements who continued to enforce sit-at-home through violence and intimidation. He insisted that linking IPOB to ongoing Monday shutdowns after the cancellation was unfair and misleading.
He explained that while IPOB had occasionally called for sit-at-home on days Kanu appeared in court, those actions were limited and observed voluntarily in solidarity, without coercion.
“The sit-at-home observed on Monday, February 2, 2026, was not a policy shift by IPOB,” Powerful said, adding that the group has consistently opposed weekly shutdowns because its members are largely traders, artisans, transporters and small business owners who depend on daily economic activity.
He said IPOB does not take pleasure in sit-at-home actions but argued that when an elected Igbo governor threatens citizens with demolitions and force, especially at a time when Igbo properties are being destroyed in other parts of the country, people are bound to express displeasure.
Powerful maintained that peaceful expressions of anger over the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu should not be met with intimidation, warning that such an approach only deepens resentment and mistrust.
He also accused the South-East Governors’ Forum of lacking genuine interest in Kanu’s release, questioning why there was what he described as active support for his conviction despite, in IPOB’s view, a lack of evidence of wrongdoing.
He reiterated that sit-at-home had been ended long ago and said it would be made clear going forward that there would be no enforcement. He added that IPOB does not want Igbo traders harassed or threatened for choosing to open their businesses.
According to him, the solution lies in dialogue, justice and respect for the rule of law, not intimidation or collective punishment, stressing that the issue goes beyond IPOB to the broader feelings of injustice among the Igbo people.