Residents and business owners across the Southeast states of Nigeria lament the pains and damage the Monday sit-at-home imposed by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to protest the continued incarceration of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is having on the region. Gboyega Alaka with reports from Damian Duruiheoma (in Enugu), Sunny Nwankwo (in Umuahia), Chris Njoku (in Owerri), Nwanosike Onu (in Awka) and Ogochukwu Anioke (in Ebonyi).
When will the Monday sit-at-home in Nigeria’s Southeast region come to an end?
This must be the question on the lips of sundry people in the five states of Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi and Imo states.
The restriction, initiated by members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) following the arrest and detention of its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu by the federal government, commenced on August 9, 2021, as a way of pressing home their demand for his freedom.
Many had thought it would be a flash-in-the-wind exercise that would peter out and normalcy would return in no time, considering the choice of Monday, which is a day the mainly business-minded Easterners would not joke with, but thirteen months after, the restriction remains, with palpable fear hanging in the air. This of course, has been gingered by the violence inflicted on those who dared to come out on the ‘forbidden’ day.
Even when IPOB announced the cancellation of the restriction two weeks after in August last year, following complaints by residents, some overzealous elements in and outside the group continued the enforcement by inflicting untold violence on those who dared to step out of their homes on Monday.
As a result, government officials, security operatives, hospital officials, traders, courts, even schools, have mostly complied for fear for their safety.
In Enugu, enforcers of the sit-at-home have been attacking traders who as much as attempt to open shops; even transporters conveying goods to any part of the region have not been spared. Shops, goods and vehicles have also been set ablaze.
They attacked Old Park, Enugu where inter-state transport vehicles were loading, killing two passengers and burning a Siena vehicle in the incident. Some passengers and drivers attempting to run for their lives also received gunshot injuries.
Enforcers of the sit-at-home order also set ablaze a truck loaded with cement at Beach Junction Nsukka town, in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, destroying 600bags of cement.
In Obollo-Afor town in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State, hooded gunmen enforcing the sit-at-home attacked residents of the community for disobeying the order, flogging traders who opened for business and destroying their wares. They also set ablaze a tricycle after discharging its passengers and destroyed a Sienna bus belonging to Udenu Central Neighbourhood Watch.
At Emene, Enugu, a shop, fully stocked with provisions, cosmetics and household wares, was set ablaze by the hoodlums.
Another incident at Eke Obinagu along Abakaliki Road, also saw the hoodlums attack and set ablaze a container truck conveying goods to Abakaliki. The driver of the truck belonging to a popular transport company thankfully escaped unhurt.
Several other residents have not lived to tell their stories, as they have been wantonly murdered.
Without doubt, residents of Enugu State have become tired of the exercise but seem quite helpless on how to begin a normal life on Mondays.
Speaking with The Nation in Enugu, some traders in the markets of Ogbete, Kenyatta and New Markets alongside transporters said they were tired of idling away on Mondays.
One of the traders at Kenyatta, Chief Jonas Amah said, “Everyone in the market here agrees that this is no longer in our favour, more so when IPOB has announced cancellation of the sit-at-home. But, how do we stop it? You don’t even know who you are avoiding. Everybody is afraid because enemies and competitors may use the opportunity to strike. You will agree with me that some people have lost their goods worth several millions of naira to this thing.”
He said it is for fear of such unfortunate incidences that people are sacrificing the day and not because of solidarity with Nnamdi Kanu.
“All of us love Nnamdi Kanu and that is why any day he is making appearance in court, we stay at home for him. But you see that Monday own, we don’t have solution to it yet.”
Another resident, Ike Aneke, said his expectations were that the exercise would be one-off.
“All of us came back in January and started normal businesses with banks and parks opening for businesses, but some boys decided to show that they run the town by attacking people with guns at Topland Junction, Agbani Road.
“That particular incident changed the narrative as all markets hurriedly shut before 10.30 am that day. That is how we have been since that time.
“I can tell you that some of us who operate our shops in plazas and many others are fed up with this imprisonment. I call it imprisonment because you stay at home going nowhere except in your house.
Chioma Omeje, who sells food stuff at New Market, Enugu, told The Nation, that the reason they still observe sit-at-home is fear.
On the second Monday in January, Omeje said she lost goods worth over N120,000 because of the chaos created by hoodlums monitoring movements and attacking harmless people.
Omeje, who said she learnt that businesses were operating in other Southeast states, called on the state government to find a means of helping people get back to business on Mondays.
“The state government should borrow from them and help us get back on Mondays,” she said.
Anambra loses N9billion
In Anambra State, the story is very much the same, as banks, schools, civil service offices and private businesses and shops remain shut every Monday, crippling all business and social activities.
Since the inglorious exercise started, all the 164 markets in Anambra State do not open for business on Monday, culminating in the governor of the state, Charles Soludo estimating revenue loss in the state at N9billion.
Government, public and private property have been destroyed, while many have lost their lives to criminal elements enforcing the sit-at-home.
A business man, who did not want to be quoted, told The Nation that what Nnamdi Kanu has succeeded in doing is to kill the entrepreneurship of Ndigbo.
The man, who noted that customers from other regions visit the Southeast markets every Monday to buy goods, said Ndigbo has lost that opportunity because of IPOB.
He also said the sit-at-home has brought about laziness in many Igbo people, adding that “that is not the way to achieve Biafra. I support the idea of Biafra, but is that the appropriate way to achieve it? IPOB has bungled that opportunity.”
Anambra, especially, has witnessed several attacks, killings and destruction of property by self-appointed enforcers of the sit-at-home, causing losses and pains.
This may not be unconnected with the replacement of three Commissioners of Police before the present one, CP Echeng Echeng.
One of such attacks on the 26th September, 2021 at Afor Nnobi, Idemili South LGA had three vehicles burnt by unknown gunmen.
A 73-year-old woman, who gave her name as Lucy, told The Nation how hoodlums stormed Agulu, Anaocha LGA in February, 2022, killing five persons and burning two vehicles all in the name of enforcing the restriction.
The octogenarian, who stated that she is yet to come out of the trauma seven months after, said, “It was like what we witnessed during the war,” and prayed not to witness such again before joining her ancestors.
For the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the federal government should listen to the agitations of the youth to know how to tackle the problem.
The National Vice President (Southeast), Ichie Damian Okeke-Ogene, told The Nation that the zone has lost a good number of people as a result, stating that those killing people are not members of IPOB.
Imo traders count loses
In Imo State, businesses, big, medium and small are also feeling the pains of the unending Monday sit-at-home.
Ndidi Igwe, an electronics dealer at Alaba International market, said his business is dying gradually as a result of the exercise.
Igwe said goods now stay longer in his stores because the sit-at-home has forced them to do business for only five days a week.
“I lose about N200,000 every sit-at-home on Monday,” he lamented.
Isiagu Umunna, a market leader at New Market, Douglas Road, usually took bank loans to run his spare parts business. But the last time he secured a loan, he did not record enough sales to repay it.
“I used to make 80 per cent of the bank loan from sales, but today, I can’t make up to 40 per cent.”
Shaking his head in despair, Isiagu, who is chairman of his association in the market, told our correspondent: “We are going down every day; businesses have collapsed. And those whose businesses have collapsed may pick up arms one day to fend for themselves. Insecurity and crime rate may double.”
A provision seller, Sister Margret Anolu, said she does not even attempt opening her Mondays and other sit-at-home days.
She said traders always scamper for safety once the alarm that IPOB militants were coming on such days was raised.
“We do not sell anything during sit-at-home days. There is usually fear (of attacks) among traders. You won’t even see people to sell to. The roads are usually dry,” she said.
Sounding rather despondent, another business man, Jude Owuama said, “We can’t go to the market, so we can’t sell.
And Mr Nwigwe, who sells agrochemicals, said, “The rainy season will even worsen the situation because the few days we have to do business (within a week) could be ruined by rainfall.”
The businessman, who said he loses N400,000 on any sit-at-home day, maintained that the state government’s insistence to open markets on such days has not yielded results because the people are too scared to do so.
Experts, businessmen count losses
Apart from Soludo’s N9billion assessment of losses in Anambra, a financial expert and former Economic Adviser to Abia State government, Chief Agu Ojukwu, said Abia State “is losing nothing less than N2billion any day businesses are shutdown in Aba alone.”
Ojukwu, who expressed fears over the dangers the state and the entire Southeast may face as a result of the continued sit-at-home, spoke of the danger of growing relocation of businesses by business owners who see the exercise as detrimental to their interest.
“What Southeast loses on each sit-at-home day cannot be calculated.
“We all knew what happened during the Osisikankwu saga; where businesses relocated out of Aba.
“The danger in the continued sit-at-home is that a lot of persons who are calling for continued Monday sit-at-home do not have serious business in Aba, Abia or any Southeast state.
“Those with serious business are not happy with what is happening and what it means is that they will relocate their business outside Aba, Abia or the Southeast.
“Some of the persons coming to Aba or Southeast will look elsewhere to do their business on Mondays.
“For governors of other zones, it is to see this as an opportunity to improve the economy of their states. I am sure that there are people, including shoe makers, who are not finding it funny with the every Monday sit-at-home and are willing to go elsewhere to establish their business.
“Those in Lagos backing what is happening in the Southeast on Mondays, do they close their shops on Mondays? The answer is an obvious ‘No’. If we don’t want to lose the few strong businesses that we have in the Southeast, it is time we have a rethink.”
Aba-based lawyer, Emperor Ogbonna noted that the sit-at-home has not only crippled the economy of Aba, but the state at large.
“Monday is the most important day of everyone in Aba, as that is the day the entire West Africa comes to Aba to buy things.
“This money brought into Aba every Monday circulates to doctors, banks, lawyers, house owners, businessmen and women, etc all over Abia state.
“Shutting down Aba every Monday until Nnamdi Kanu is released by the federal government will cause exceptional hardship in our land,” he stated.
Hope rising
The Nation can however report that unlike in the past, major commercial motor parks at the popular Milverton have started opening for business on Mondays, except on days Nnamdi Kanu is appearing in court.
Though some of the park operators who pleaded for anonymity, lamented low patronage on Mondays, they stated that it was a clear departure from what obtained in recent past.
Equally, there has been an increase in intra-city transportation, with many bus and tricycle operators recording more patronage in the last few Mondays in the state.
Shops on some major roads, including the popular School Road spare parts market, now open for business on Mondays; same for traders at Ehi Road, Umungasi-Abayi market.
Some residents of Aba who were not able to go to work, also now utilise the early hours of the day for their routine physical exercise.
However, no security personnel were seen on the roads, save military personnel stationed at various locations in the commercial city.
While financial institutions have yet to resume Monday operations, bank customers who have need for financial transactions now use the Automated Teller Machine (ATM), while others patronise POS operators.
Apprehension
Many are however still apprehensive, stating that the only condition under which they would dare to open for business on a Monday, is guarantee of security and safety by security agencies.
A respondent, Chinonso Ifedigbo, said the only thing keeping the residents at home was the inability of security chiefs and government to assure their safety.
“As you can see for yourself, business has improved and many people are willing to open shop, but what do you expect them to do when the people who are supposed to provide security are nowhere to be found?”
A staffer of one of the commercial banks in the state told our correspondent that things have not been the same with financial institutions operating in the state.
“Those of us in the financial institutions understand the huge negative impact of the sit-at-home on the economic life of the state and its citizens. I know what we used to have in our vaults before the Monday sit-at-home begun, and what we have now.
“Even the blind knows that economically, Abia and indeed, the entire Southeast states have been battling to stay afloat since the sit-at-home started and when it turned violent by the enforcers.”
He also stated that no reasonable person would want to invest or site business in Igbo land at the moment.
Talking of the social implication, the banker said many now prefer to hold burials and traditional marriages outside Igbo land due to fear of insecurity.
“A client of mine narrated how his kinsman buried his wife outside their village because he was told not to bring any car with policemen or uniformed personnel into the village.
Ebonyi suffers ripple effect
Although the sit-at-home is no longer being observed in Ebonyi, the fact that it is still being observed in other Southeast states means the ripple effects impact it greatly.
This is because businessmen can’t come into the state on Mondays, leading to loss of revenue.
A visit to major markets like the International Market and the popular Abakaliki Rice Mill Industry shows that though they are open, it experiences low turnout of customers compared to other business days
A rice miller at the Abakaliki rice mill, James Ezike said though the market is open on Mondays, many residents avoid the market.
A foodstuff seller at the international market, Stella Kwadoro, lamented the fact that they cannot go to the markets in other Southeast states whenever their market days fall Mondays.
“You know we depend on goods we get on wholesale from those markets on their market days and if we miss it that week, then we will not have enough goods to sell,” she explained.
A manager of one of the major transport services in the country, who pleaded anonymity, said transport businesses and companies lose hundreds of millions to the sit-at-home exercise.
He said: “My brother, I don’t have the figures but I can tell you that it will be in hundreds of millions. Imagine the hundreds of buses that you see here in central park and the fact that on Mondays they are all grounded and cannot load passengers because other states in the region are shut down.”
Last year, Governor David Umahi, who is also the chairman of the Southeast Governors Forum, said the region loses over N10billion each time it observes the sit-at-home order.
The situation, analysts have said, is worsening the economic situation in the region, as it has the tendency to drag more people into poverty.
A resident of Abakaliki, Mr Abel Ofor, urged those enforcing the sit-at-home to consider the plight of the poor masses in the region.
“They say they are fighting for our freedom but how do you convince me of that and get my support when you inflict such suffering and poverty on me and my household?”
Ofor said, “Whether it is observed in Ebonyi or not, the fact is that every state in the Southeast is affected because we are economically interdependent on each other.
“If the three major markets in Onicha, Aba and Enugu, where we go to get our foods wholesale are closed, and the ones we produce like rice cannot be transported out, then it will have ripple effects on everybody.
“I think the organisers would have a rethink and come up with better strategies to fight for our freedom; if at all that is what they are doing.”
Opportunity to rest
Interestingly, some residents are however at home with the restriction.
For some of them, especially those on paid jobs, Mondays have now become a day to rest.
A staff of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, who preferred anonymity, told our correspondent that the Monday sit-at-home enables him to attend to his private endeavours.
“I use Friday to Monday to take care of business. We usually work half day on Fridays; and from there, I move on to continue my business which truly is not affected by sit-at-home”, he said.
Some respondents in Anambra told The Nation that they are gradually getting used to it. While many are still lamenting that it has caused more harm than good, some traders say, they now use Mondays to enjoy themselves.
An Onitsha based trader, Mr Boniface Nwigwe, told The Nation that he no longer regrets the sit-at-home idea, as it has turned out as additional rest day for him.
He said some traders in the commercial city of Onitsha now use it to gather some friends where they engage themselves in drinking spree.
Also, Mrs Ebele Okafor, a business woman at eke-Awka market, said Mondays now gives her the opportunity to relax after weekends activities.
She told The Nation that she no longer goes to market on Mondays, adding that she uses Mondays to take adequate care of her family.
Supporters
The Nation also observed that a few others, who have become the apostles of the detained Nnamdi Kanu, see nothing wrong in the sit-at-home. They believe strongly that it is the only way to force government to look their way.
Story By
Gboyega Alaka, Damian Duruiheoma (Enugu), Sunny Nwankwo (Umuahia), Chris Njoku (Owerri), Nwanosike Onu (Awka) and Ogochukwu Anioke (Ebonyi).
