The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on Thursday ordered the arrest of anyone enforcing the weekly sit-at-home directive in any part of the South-East.
In a statement issued by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, the group wondered why some people would continue to enforce an order that had been cancelled in the region.
IPOB had ordered a sit-at-home every Monday in the South-East in a bid to force the Federal Government to release its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
However, the group’s leadership after consultations with South-East leaders called off the directive last week.
Following the continued enforcement of the directive by some individuals, IPOB asked the community and religious leaders in the region to devise ways to arrest the people still enforcing the directive and hand them over to its members in the localities.
The statement read: “We wish to reiterate once again that IPOB has cancelled Monday sit-at-home order and anybody or group enforcing the relaxed order is neither from IPOB nor from IPOB volunteer group.
We are advising our people to ignore anybody enforcing non-existent Monday sit-at-home order and go about their normal business because such person(s) are working for our enemies and their intention is to blackmail IPOB and set the movement against the people but they won’t succeed.
Anyone caught adding to the pain of our people in the name of enforcing Monday sit-at-home order will be treated as the enemy that he or she is.
“We, therefore, warn these agents of darkness using the name of IPOB to enforce a non-existent sit-at-home to desist because if we lay hold on them they will eternally regret their evil actions.
“Why should such unpatriotic elements be inflicting pain on our people and dragging our image to the mud? IPOB remains a non-violent movement and our peaceful approach for Biafra restoration has not changed.
“We hereby direct community leaders, market leaders, church leaders, and other institutions of authority in Biafra land to arrest any hoodlum trying to enforce any sit-at-home on Mondays and hand them over to IPOB. Such criminal elements must be treated in a language they understand.”
