The Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, and Imo state governments yesterday vowed not to yield to the intransigence of non-state actors who are interfering in the governance of the Southeast geopolitical zone.
This was in reaction to the threat by Simon Ekpa, a factional leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), to stay at home in the southeast for two weeks, from July 31 to August 14.
According to Punch, Simon Ekpa declared Tuesday that the sit-in would take place in the following order: from Monday, July 31 to Friday, August 4, 2023, Biafraland will be on total lockdown;
On Saturday, August 5, and Sunday, August 6, 2023, all Biafraland markets will open respectively.
From Monday, August 7, 2023, to Friday, August 11, 2023, Biafraland will be in total lockdown; on Saturday, August 12, 2023, and Sunday, August 13, 2023 (rest), all markets in Biafraland will be open.
We hereby call upon all market leaders to adhere strictly to this order and to treat it with the utmost seriousness.”
No Place for Non-State Forces in Anambra
However, the Anambra state government said yesterday that it will never yield to non-state actors.
The state government, through Christian Abrime, spokesman for Governor Chukuma Sordo, said Ekpa is a fugitive who should be completely ignored.
Abrime said: “Under the leadership of Governor Chukma Charles Sordo, Anambra State will never bow down to non-state actors regarding this illegal stay-at-home order.
Simon Ekpa is a fugitive, a mobster, and should be completely ignored by the citizens of Anambra, and by extension, the entire Southeast.
The imposition of the stay-at-home order by an unauthorized individual or group is a clear violation of the law, and Anambra State will never abide by Simon Ekpa’s stay-at-home order.
‘Our markets, schools, businesses, and other social activities will remain open. Anambra State will never become a hotbed of anarchy, fear, and lawlessness.”
No one will follow him – the Enugu State government.
An official of the Enugu State government, who also described Simon Ekpa as a nefarious person and a criminal, said no one in Enugu State will follow him, insisting that the illegal sit-in in Enugu is over.
The government official, who did not want his name printed because he is not one of the spokespersons, however, warned criminal foot soldiers in Ekpa who might try the government to think twice because they might not live to tell the tale.
‘We have ended the illegal sit-in here in Enugu. That criminal should look for something else to do. He is not working for Nnamdi Kanu or the IPoB; the IPoB has repeatedly denied him.
People should call him a terrorist, a criminal. He should not be associated with the IPoB.
‘The security authorities instruct accomplices who try to test the government’s will. They have been warned.
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