The group said although it suspended the sit-at-home order in the South-East geopolitical zone, the way and manner in which the governor set out to halt the order in the state had amounted to intimidation, harassment and humiliation.
The group stated that scarce resources of the state should be channelled into proper use.
IPOB’s Director of Media and Publicity, Comrade Emma Powerful, said this in a statement on Thursday, a copy of which was made available to The PUNCH.
The group urged the governor to learn from his predecessor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who it noted skillfully managed the situation without escalating it.
The statement read in part, “In as much as IPOB has suspended the Monday sit-at-home that has been going on in Biafraland, nevertheless, we condemn the mishandling of the current situation by the Enugu State Governor, Mr. Peter Mbah. The use of security forces to harass, intimidate, and humiliate our people in Enugu State is not acceptable.
“Barr. Peter Mbah should have known that he was voted into office for good governance, not to waste time chasing shadows and wasting state scarce resources in quest of stopping the infamous sit-at-home.”
The statement read further, “The former Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, strategically managed the marauders enforcing sit-at-home without escalating the situation. Within a month of Mbah’s office as a governor, more than five innocent people have been murdered as a result of careless and mismanagement of the situation.
IPOB advised Mbah against escalating the sit-at-home, as it said, “those advising him to use excessive force to stop the sit-at-home are setting him up against the people,” adding that the suspended order is “fading out naturally.”
“Other states are now going about their normal businesses peacefully. We wonder if he is helping to enforce the sit-at-home with the murderous Nigeria security agents or creating a quiet environment for Enugu residents to move about their businesses?”, it asked.
The group described the two-week sit-at-home order by Simon Ekpa, a Biafran agitator based in Finland, as “treacherous,” noting that “Biafrans’ solidarity is with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”
IPOB stated that, in spite of the series of press releases concerning the halt on the sit-at-home order, it’s surprising that Mbah was ” using force to compel Biafrans who are voluntarily observing it in solidarity with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to come out.”
“Most Biafrans are not observing Monday sit-at-home because of Simon Ekpa. Biafrans’ solidarity is with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. That’s why our people have ignored Simon Ekpa’s two weeks treacherous sit-at-home and have gone about their businesses,” it stated.
IPOB assured that everything is under control and advised the governor to attend to pressing challenges in the state.
It said, “Therefore, Peter Mbah should learn from other states and stop suffering the people of Enugu State. He should face other pressing governance challenges and leave the Monday sit-at-home to die a natural death. The situation is easing, and with our leader’s handwritten order, everything is under control.”
“Mbah should not aggravate the settled situation with the mindless Nigeria security’s show of force. We don’t know whether Mbah is aware that the Monday sit-at-home is dead and nobody should resuscitate the dead event,” the statement added.
The group also warned that its leader, Kanu, had asked it to stop the order, to avoid it being hijacked by “evildoers.”
“IPOB initiated Monday sit-at-home order until our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Okwuchukwu Kanu, asked us to stop before the evildoers hijacked it and started committing crimes with it.”
“IPOB has no intention of tormenting our people, unlike the paid infiltrators and agent provocateurs who were groomed to torture our people with indiscriminate enforcement of week in week out sit-at-homes,” the statement concluded.
