Respect People’s Will To Sit At Home On Mondays, IPOB Tells Anambra Govt

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has warned the Anambra State Government against penalising citizens who choose to observe the Monday sit-at-home, insisting that the action is a lawful, peaceful civil protest and not a crime.

The group gave the warning on Sunday in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Comrade Emma Powerful, in its reaction to the state government’s directive warning workers, particularly in the education sector, that absenteeism on Mondays would attract salary cuts or outright forfeiture.

IPOB said Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo has no constitutional power to compel citizens to open their businesses or move about against their will, stressing that remaining indoors on Mondays is a voluntary act of conscience and solidarity with its detained leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

“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 move about against their will, especially when their action is a peaceful, non-violent expression of conscience,” the group said.

The group described the Monday sit-at-home as civil disobedience, not terrorism, arguing that democratic societies recognise the right of citizens to engage in peaceful protest against policies or conditions they consider 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,” IPOB stated.

The Anambra State Government had earlier announced that the protracted Monday sit-at-home had been abolished with immediate effect.

A circular from the Ministry of Education, signed by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Ifeoma Agbaizu, warned that any staff, both tutorial and non-tutorial, who fail to attend work on Mondays would either receive only 20 per cent of their salary or forfeit it entirely.

According to the circular, the directive followed a State Executive Council meeting presided over by Governor Soludo on January 21, and attendance on Mondays has now been made a key benchmark for salary payment. It added that attendance registers would be closely monitored and scrutinised before salaries are processed.

Reacting to the directive, IPOB accused the governor of harassing his own people in a bid to impress authorities in Abuja, instead of addressing the grievances fueling agitation in the South-East.

“The frustration in Igboland is deep. The anger is justified. The pain is historic. Rather than confront the injustice that fuels agitation, the governor has chosen to threaten traders, punish workers and intimidate citizens for choosing to stay in their homes peacefully,” the statement said.

The group warned that any attempt by the state government to set up a task force or enforcement squad to coerce residents into opening shops or resuming work on Mondays would amount to provocation.

“That will not be governance. That will be oppression. And the people will treat it as an open declaration of hostility,” IPOB warned.

While insisting that it does not force anyone to observe the sit-at-home, IPOB maintained that no government has the right to force people to abandon it.

“The sit-at-home is voluntary. People who stay home do so because they believe sacrifice is part of the struggle for justice and freedom,” the group said.

IPOB advised Governor Soludo to focus on governance, security, infrastructure and economic development rather than issuing threats, adding that the ultimate solution to the crisis remains the release of Nnamdi Kanu.

“The solution is not threats. The solution is justice. Until that injustice is addressed, every Monday will remain a day of silent protest by conscience, not by decree,” the statement added.

The group warned the governor to desist from actions that could further alienate the people, noting that history has never been kind to leaders who turn against their own citizens.