Socio-economic activities have resumed in the old Eastern region after a successful shut down of major cities by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) which declared sit-at-home order to mark the 50th anniversary of Biafra.
Our reporters in Aba, Port Harcourt and Owerri reported a return of commercial buzz in the city centres all of which were deserted on Tuesday. All the markets and supermarkets which observed the directive resumed activities on Wednesday.
Mazi Udemba Ejiweme, a trader on Douglass Road Owerri said he was happy to be back to business, but added that he did not regret any loss of money on Tuesday as a result of the stay-at-home directive. “It was worth every sacrifice. We in the East suffered the consequences of the war and we are still suffering it in a country we ought to have equal privileges in. I support the order to close business. It is a message we have sent to the authorities”, he said as he hunched over a heap of wares in his heavily stocked shop.
Both IPOB and MASSOB have been celebrating the success of the sit-at-Home protest.
IPOB’s in a statement signed by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, hailed Biafrans and all the IPOB family members worldwide for their compliance with the order issued by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
The statement reads: “Our supreme leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu issued this order of Sit-at-Home when he was still in Kuje prison, Abuja, and it has come to pass, all the people of Biafra both home and abroad complied in totality which was never done in the history of Biafra struggle.
“We also blame those saboteurs who were paid by the government to sabotage the restoration project because today Biafrans and IPOB members worldwide obeyed Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. IPOB must be strong and we promise everybody that Biafra is here.
“However, Biafrans have proven to the entire world that they need freedom and the world must know that we are not going back in the quest for independence of Biafra.
“The Sit-at-Home order was a success and all the market, schools, banks, companies/industries, transport companies businesses in Biafra land were in total compliance. May God Almighty bless you all.”
IPOB noted that the Sit-at-Home order was also complied with in the Diaspora, adding that there were marches on the streets of Taiwan, Chad, Switzerland, United Kingdom, USA, Russia, Ukraine, Angola, Congo DRC, Mozambique, Luxembourg and Brazil.
Other countries, according to the statement, are Jamaica, Dominican Republic, St. Kitts, Canada, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, France, among others.
MASSOB also described the Sit-at-Home protest as a huge success, saying it was marvellous and glorious because God divinely approved the commemoration of the Golden Jubilee celebration of the declaration of Biafra by late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.
In a statement made available to journalists in Awka, signed by MASSOB’S Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Uchenna, the group said: “The success is not a selfish pride for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu-led IPOB or Comrade Uchenna Madu-led MASSOB or any other group.
“It is an honour to the people of Biafra. It is an honour to the gallant and eloquent soldiers of Biafra and civilians that bravely laid down their lives for the establishment of the Republic of Biafra.
“It is an honour to Biafra school children, an honour to commercial cyclists, tricycles, bus and other vehicle operators, it is an honour to the cooperate firms/establishments that complied with the Sit-at-Home exercise.
“The huge success is express evidence that the coming Biafra referendum shall be a walk over against Nigeria state.
“The success is also a direct confirmation that light and darkness can never work together.
“The huge success is an indication to the international community that Biafrans are willing to stay on their own.
“MASSOB is not against Nigeria’s existence, Biafra nation can as well exist as a sister nation with Nigeria like any other African country”.
