The leadership of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) yesterday said it will begin Operation David Dance to counter Army’s Exercise Python Dance in the Southeast.
The move, IPOB said, would show the Army that the organisation was also capable of coining words to intimidate people.
In a statement in Awka, the Anambra State apital, by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, the group cautioned its members to exercise restraint in dealings with security agencies.
IPOB said God would not permit the extermination of its members because they were non-violent in their struggle.
The statement said: “IPOB worldwide advises the people of Biafra and IPOB members to be sure they don’t fall victim in the hands of the Pharaoh’s soldiers, called Operation Python Dance in the Southeast.
“The IPOB devices a means of Operation David Dance, which is recognised by the God Almighty in the Bible.
“It was the dance that gave David victory over Goliath at the battle front because God Almighty does not sleep…”
Tag: IPOB
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IPOB declares Operation David Dance
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Operation not targeted at IPOB, MASSOB, says army
THE Nigerian military yesterday said that its exercise python dance is not targeted at the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualization for Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) as being speculated. In a statement made available to newsmen yesterday in Awka and signed by the Deputy Director Army Public Relations, 82 Division, Colonel Sagir Musa, the army said the fear being expressed by some people about the development was unfounded.
Musa said that similar operations had earlier been launched in other parts of the country. He added that the exercise was launched based on recent security challenges, not only in Igbo land, but the entire country.
The statement from the army read in part: “Exercise PYTHON DANCE is not targeted at any individual or group of people. “It is purely a Command Post and Field Training Exercises, as a way of enhancing troops preparedness across spectrum of contemporary security challenges peculiar to the South East Region. “For emphasis and clarity, Exercise PYTHON DANCE is not targeted at MOSSOB/IPOB or any individual or group”
“It is only a Field Training Exercise that is designed to where necessary dovetail into real time activities, such as anti-kidnapping drills, patrols, raids, cordon and search, check points, road locks and show of force.
“This is with the aim of checkmating anticipated rising wave of crimes usually prevalent during the Yuletide period. “Recall that similar exercises were successfully conducted in different regions of Nigeria. For instance, Ex SHIRIN HARBI was conducted from 17 – 19 April 2016 in 3 Division Area of Responsibility (AOR) to take care of the insurgency, cattle rustling and other Sunday crimes in the North East region.
Similarly, Ex HARBIN KUNAMA was held in 1 Division AOR from 9 – 15 July 2016 to rid the North West region of banditry, insurgency and Cattle rustling among other menaces. “Also, Ex CROCODILE SMILE was conducted from 5 – 10 September 2016 in the Niger Delta region with an overarching aim of reducing incidences of illegal bunkering, oil theft, sea piracy and other peculiar criminalities across the entire region.
These exercises were in all standards successful.” The statement also said that “In the same vein, Ex PYTHON DANCE has been planned for the South East region from 27 November – 27 December 2016.
The prevalent security issues, such as armed robbery, banditry, kidnappings, herdsmen – farmers clashes, communal clashes and violent secessionist attacks among other security threats in the Region would be targeted.” It enjoined members of the public to disregard the unfounded fear and allegations orchestrated by ill-meaning individuals and groups that the exercise is ‘ a plot to kill IPOB members. “This assertion is not only insidious and mischievous, but is also devious and bunkum and should be disregarded please,” the statement read.
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Falana to Fed Govt: probe MASSOB, IPOB members’ killings
Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to set up a panel of enquiry to investigate the killing of the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) members.
The lawyer advised the government to extend the scope of such panel to include what he called “the scores of the Shiites killed by the army and the police” in the North.
He said this became imperative because of the admission of the Army that it killed five protesters, instead of the 150 alleged by Amnesty International (AI).
Falana expressed worry over the killings in a paper, titled: War Against Corruption – Issues and Challenges Confronting the Judiciary, he delivered at this year’s Law Week of the Jos branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) at Hill Station Hotel, Jos, the Plateau State capital.
The frontline lawyer was reacting to last week’s AI report on the alleged killing of 150 members of IPOB by the Army.
But the Army has denied the report.
Falana berated the Army for joining issues with the global human rights wartchdog.
He reminded the Army that it issued a statement on May 31, this year, where it said: “…In the aftermath of the fire fight that ensued, many of own troops sustained varying degrees of injury. These injured troops are currently receiving treatment at own medical centre.
“Similarly, five members of MASSOB/IPOB were killed, eight injured while none was arrested for due legal actions.”
Falana noted that contrary to the Army’s claims, a judicial commission of enquiry set up by the Kaduna State Government established that 347 members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (ISN) were killed by the Army last December for allegedly blocking a road in Zaria, Kaduna State, during a religious convention.
The eminent lawyer also recalled that the peaceful protests to demand the release of the leader of the movement, Sheik Ibraheem Elzakzaky, and his wife from what he called illegal incarceration by the State Security Service (SSS) was violently suppressed under the pretext that the religious group had been banned.
He said such a ban was without any court order.
According to him, the armed soldiers who engaged in the killings have not been charged to any criminal court.
Falana said: “It is curious to note that neither the national leadership of the NBA nor any of its 109 branches has deemed it fit to condemn the crimes against humanity committed by the Army and the worsening human rights record of the Federal Government. But the NBA reacted angrily to the nocturnal raid of the homes of seven judges who were arrested for alleged corrupt practices last month by operatives of the State Security Service (SSS).
“However, while not supporting the harassment of the judges, I did not hesitate in condemning the NBA for engaging in hypocrisy by limiting the defence of human rights to the senior members of the legal profession. Since this is a body of lawyers, I wish to state, without any fear of contradiction, that the Department of State Security (DSS) is not a juristic personality, as it is unknown to law. So, if you sue the DSS instead of the State Security Service (SSS)in any of the courts, the case will be struck by virtue of the Nigeria Security Agencies Act (Cap N74), Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
“More importantly, as statutory defenders of the rule of law and human rights, the NBA ought to mobilise its members to stop the liquidation of any group of agitators in the country.
“The government is at liberty to charge any citizen or group of people to court, if it has evidence of their involvement in treasonable conduct or any form of criminality.”
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Nigerian security agents killed 150 IPOB members – Amnesty
Amnesty International accused Nigerian security forces on Thursday of killing at least 150 peaceful advocates of Biafra’s secession from country, but the military and police dismissed the allegations.
An army spokesman said Amnesty’s statement, the latest in a series of allegations of impropriety levelled against Nigeria’s military in the last year, aimed to tarnish the security forces’ reputation. The police said its officers did not attack people holding demonstrations.
Amnesty said the military fired live ammunition, with little or no warning, to disperse members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group between August 2015 and August 2016.
Its 60-page report based on interviews with 193 people, 87 videos and 122 photographs from that period also said troops and the police used “arbitrary, abusive and excessive force to disrupt gatherings.”
Secessionist feeling has simmered in the southeast since the Biafra separatist rebellion tipped Nigeria into a 1967-1970 civil war that killed an estimated one million people, Reuters reported.
It flared up again last year after IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu was detained on charges of criminal conspiracy and belonging to an illegal society.
That prompted supporters of Kanu to hold protests that Amnesty said were dispersed with live ammunition.
The army spokesman, Sani Usman, said Biafra separatists had behaved violently, killing five policeman at a protest in May and attacking both military and police vehicles.
“The military and other security agencies exercised maximum restraints despite the flurry of provocative and unjustifiable violence,” Usman told Reuters.
Nigeria Police Force spokesman, Don Awunah, said officers “always abide by the law” and adhere to best practices.
“We don’t attack people who are demonstrating, which every Nigerian has a right to do,” he said.
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Fresh concerns as 52 groups meet over Kanu, IPOB
Following allegations that federal government’s continuous detention of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), suggests a deliberate scheme to subdue the people of the former eastern region, about 52 groups met in Enugu this Friday and threatened to join IPOB. Sam Egburonu highlights some of the views of the participants in the tension-soaked meeting
THERE are fresh concerns following unending agitation of numerous groups protesting continuous detention of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) by the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government of Nigeria.
Just this weekend, about 52 of such groups from the South-East and South-South threatened to merge with IPOB, if Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is not released unconditionally, in obedience to a High Court ruling in December 2015 ordering his unconditional release. The about 52 groups which met in Enugu at the weekend, under the chairmanship of Bishop Micheal Ibeneme met at the residence of Chief (Mrs.) Maria Okwor in Independence Layout Enugu. This would be their third meeting in recent months.
The groups comprising of Christian religious bodies, students associations, town unions, age grades, traders associations, women’s groups, youth organisations and elders council deliberated for several hours over the weekend on the state of the nation and concluded that the federal government is steadily making it difficult for the country to remain one, through its brazen, oppressive and determined effort to strike fear into the hearts of citizens in order to foist a fascist reign of ethnic, regional and religious dominance of one region over another.” They therefore vowed to resist what they described as “an unholy agenda as “capitulation to the agenda would mean sentencing our progeny to a permanent status of serfs, everything is being done to rub in that we are not part of Nigeria. Buhari is deliberately pushing us out of Nigeria,” they alleged.
The meeting, which also had in attendance over a dozen groups from the Niger Delta, also said “the delay to redesign Nigeria to six regions is the source of 99% of the problems afflicting the nation today.”
In a two point communiqué, the groups declared that six regional structures remains the only formula to salvage, and rebuild Nigeria, noting that “those opposed to six regional structures were only working towards the eventual disintegration of the country. They said that all political, economic and social indicators pointed to the self-evident truth that only an early reversal to the six-regional structure will save the country now.”
The groups also condemned in no uncertain terms the continued detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu after two courts of the land granted him unconditional release, maintaining that “the over-ruling of the courts, by Mr. President in a television chat with journalists pointed to an unacceptable travesty, where the presidency takes final decision on matters properly handled by the judiciary.
Therefore, continued the groups “we are giving notice to the world, that if the unjust, provocative and very divisive detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is not specially looked into for the sake of peace, equity and justice, we may no longer restrain our members, affiliates, friends and sister groups who have indicated their resolve to join and merge with the IPOB in solidarity with their persecution and unjust detention of their leader. Pursuit of self-determination is the inalienable right of all oppressed people the world over as endorsed by the United Nations Chatter on Freedom,” they said.
The group also said: “We are being forced and pressured by the uncompromising attitude of the oppressor to defend and protect the future of our progeny. The current master/servant relationship as typified by the unworkable, military constitution is suffocating us. Enough is enough”.
According to a statement from the groups, Comrade Chimezie Ubani, President of Igbo Student Union said “We pleaded for restructure, they refused, we pleaded for a referendum, they said no; they treat us like slaves, Fulani herdsmen raping our women, killing our farmers, abducting our priests, all the 54 tertiary institutions in the east have resolved to join the IPOB to turn it to the largest mass movement in the world. We have come to the point where Mr. President must know that he just cannot continue detaining an innocent man. We have already printed our ID cards, from now henceforth, we are all IPOB”.
Lady Ifeoma Nwankwo, chairperson of the Onitsha Fish Dealers Association complained “631 IPOB members have been slaughtered by the federal government this year alone, some kidnapped in hospitals and killed, it is unacceptable. Mazi Chidiebere Onwudiwe was kidnapped by the DSS in June, with a laughable allegation of planning to bomb churches and computer village heaped on him by the DSS, for four months, they have held him incommunicado without charging him to court. What do you call this if not fascism; a mixture of Hitler and Idi Amin in the making? Subjugation through reign of terror? We are all IPOB henceforth”.
Chief Chris Obikwelu, Chairman of Igbo Traders Association, said “if Kanu is not released this month, every trader will now go about with IPOB ID card; its one year now since they locked up an innocent man; they are indirectly telling us that we are nothing, that we are inconsequential, that they can treat us anyhow they like, we are tired of the oppression.”
Bishop Michael Ibeneme, who chaired the meeting, said “Every effort to resolve the structural defects in this country is being rebuffed by people who love to ride on the back of others, people whose world view is that of subjugating others to slavery and eternal domination. They are pushing us to the wall; they are doing all they can to provoke us to action. We call on Mr. President to release Nnamdi Kanu and reduce the anger and bitterness in the land. Those advising otherwise do not wish him well”.
Chief Maria Okwor added “Only a return to the six regions will save Nigeria. Everybody knows it, delay is unhelpful”.
Evang. Elliot Ugochukwu-Uko, founder of Igbo Youth Movement and Deputy Secretary of Igbo Leaders of Thought, explained “This is our third meeting and I can tell you, there is a pervasive feeling that Abuja might not fully be aware of the anger in the land. It is possible those around the seat of power are lying to Mr. President, possibly in the hope of shielding the truth from him. If he knew the degree of bitterness in the hearts of millions of citizens, he would have released Nnamdi Kanu long ago. His continuous detention is fueling division in the land. It is the oxygen mobilizing millions of aggrieved youths, the foreboding is dangerous”.
He told The Nation that the meeting was further adjourned till the first week of November.
Groups which attended the meeting include, Igbo Women Assembly, Igbo Youth Movement, South East Christian Network, Igbo Traders Association, Igbo Students Union, CAN, PFN, Umuada Alaigbo, World Igbo Congress, Niger Delta Youth Forum, South-East Professionals, Igbo in Academia, Eastern Nigerian Congress, South-South Youth Congress and Igbo Diaspora Organisation. Others are Umuigbo United Front, South-South/South-East Coalition, Traditional Healers Union, United Road Workers Union and Food Stuff Dealers Association, etc
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IPOB and the trouble with Nigeria
SIR: Ethnic nationalism is sweeping across our world like a gale of wind. Some countries in our today’s world are experiencing violent agitation for state-hoods by separatist groups. Few years ago, Scotland conducted a referendum to determine its continued stay in the Great Britain. The Basque People in Spain want a separate country of their own. The Western Sahara is demanding freedom from Morocco. It used to be a colony of Spain, who ceded it to Morocco. And in Kenya, the country is characterized by ethnic hatred and conflicts as the Kikuyu, Luo and other tribes are battling for ethnic supremacy and the control of political power at the centre, killing one another in the process.
Back home in Nigeria, ethnic conflict has become a permanent feature of our political history and odyssey. Forty-six years after the end of the civil war, the agitations for political sovereignty by some ethnic groups have not ceased. Expectedly, at the root of their agitation is their feeling of marginalization. The Niger-Delta people feel that the proceeds realized from the sale of crude-oil, which is got from their soil, are used to develop elsewhere. And in the South-East, there is a renewed and intensified agitation for the state of Biafra, the rallying point being the detained director of Radio Biafra and IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
If Nigeria were to disintegrate now, many nation-states would come out of Nigeria. And Nigeria’s strength as well as its greatness lies in its diversities. Can’t we utilize our diversities in many areas to achieve national development as America is doing? America, a nation of nations, is the melting pot of the world, millions of its citizens having originally come from other countries. In America, race, religion, sexual orientation, language, and money are not the factors that determine who leads that country. Were these factors determinants of the person who would become the American president, Barrack Obama wouldn’t have led America for eight years. It is fact that a country cannot grow above the visions and dreams of its national leaders.
What throws up misfits, ethnic chauvinists, religious bigots, thieving politicians, and others as our national leaders is our flawed recruitment process for leaders. And that’s why Nigeria is in the cesspool of under-development. We need a detribalized leader with probity, leadership qualities, and competence to pilot our affairs. We need a leader who will wield the country together and entrench unity among us.
Again, if we practise true federalism as obtains in America and other countries, each constituent part of the country will enjoy fiscal autonomy and can develop at its own pace as it is generating revenue without wholly relying on financial handouts from the centre for its survival. At this juncture in our country’s political life, what we need, more than anything else, is the practice of true federalism in the country as well as the re-restructuring of Nigeria.
- Chiedu Uche Okoye,
Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State.
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IPOB: Release my son, Kanu’s father tells Buhari
- Monarch slam Igbo elite for abandoning son
The father of Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra [IPOB], HRM Eze Israel Kanu, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari, to free his son, maintaining that his son has not committed any crime to warrant his being kept in prison.
It will be recalled that Kanu has been in detention in Abuja prison since October 2015 over alleged treasonable offence.
Speaking with newsmen yesterday in his palace at Afarukwu Umuahia, Kanu’s father, the traditional ruler of Afaraukwu autonomous community, said his son was innocent of all the charges preferred against him by the Federal Government and should be released.
According to Eze Kanu, the Nigerian constitution guarantees freedom of speech for all citizens, wondering why his son should continue to be held behind bars for merely demanding for self- rule for his people.
The monarch said, “I want my son released by President Buhari because he committed no crime. He was not armed when he was arrested, he is only fighting for his rights for the freedom of his people.”
The traditional ruler used the forum to commend the IPOB for the sit-at- home directive to its members to press home their demand for the release of his son, adding that an aggrieved person has the right to express his grievances.
He expressed support for the order, noting that it was better than street protest, which often leads to the loss of more lives, saying that the sit-at-home directive will not give security agencies the excuse to shoot anyone.
The octogenarian, who strongly contended that the people had the inalienable right to express their feelings about how they are governed, called on the international community to prevail on the Nigerian government to release his son and other detained Biafran activists.
Eze Kanu said there was nothing wrong with Nigeria conducting a plebiscite to determine if the agitation for Biafra is popular or not, stressing that doing that will solve many problems for both sides of the divide.
He, however, accused the Igbo political class of docility over the ordeals of his son and the Biafran project, saying that they preferred to remain taciturn because of their political interests.
The monarch urged the political elite should not leave the struggle for the ordinary people, arguing that if Biafra is eventually actualized, it is the political class that will benefit most.
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IPOB, MASSOB sit-at-home protest flops in Enugu, Owerri, Awka, Abakaliki
- Protest a success –MASSOB, IPOB
This could not have been the way the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) wanted their stay-at-home protest to unfold yesterday.
Across much of the Southeast states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo, as well as the Igbo speaking areas of Delta State, the protest was anything, but the massive shut down called by the two groups to press home their demand for the release of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu from detention.
Residents in the affected states defied the stay at home order and went about their business.
Markets opened for buying and selling and vehicular movement went un-hindered.
Only in Onitsha was the boycott partially observed.
The main market and other markets in the commercial city were shut for fear of harassment by hoodlums but some banks were opened .
Vehicular movement was light in the city, with security operatives patrolling the streets to forestall any break down of law and order.
Soldiers were at the two ends of the Niger Bridge which is a vital link between the Southeast and much of the country.
Social and economic activities were in full swing in Awka, the state capital all day although some commercial vehicle operators stayed off the roads for fear of molestation by thugs.
In Nnewi, many traders adopted a wait and see attitude and by 11am began to troop out to open their shops for business.
The state police command had, on Thursday, warned parents against allowing their children to be used by anyone to breach the peace of the state.
Armed security personnel were visible in strategic places which gave the generality of the people confidence to shun the protest.
The Ebonyi State Police Command tightened security within Abakaliki metropolis and environs to ensure peace.
Spokesman of the command, DSP George Okafor said he personally went to all the major markets in the state to ensure that traders went about their normal businesses without molestation or apprehension.
Speaking by phone, he said: “I am at the Abakpa main market now with my cameraman who is taking pictures of the shops.
“I want to tell you that economic activities are at their best. There is no sign of protest. “Everywhere is calm and peaceful. We will continue to mount surveillance in all the major markets to ensure that there’s orderliness everywhere.
“We are not leaving anything to chance.”
Asaba, the Delta State capital and environs, were calm all day.
Armed policemen patrolled the metropolis between 8am and 12 noon.
An armoured carrier, 12 Hilux patrol pick-ups were stationed at the Onitsha head bridge, while other armed mobile and regular policemen were seen patrolling the major streets.
Other law enforcement agents were stationed at strategic junctions to maintain law and order.
Government offices, banks, schools (public and private), markets and other business premises opened for normal businesses.
Some shops at Ogbogonogo market were, however, shut.
Traffic was also light on the ever busy Benin/Onitsha expressway, Nnebisi road, Summit road, Traffic Light, Cable Point and other major streets.
Some parents who were afraid of the unknown, stopped their children and wards from going to school.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, SP Celestina Kalu, said the command deployed 500 policemen to keep peace in the town.
But MASSOB leader, Uchenna Madu, branded the protest a success and hailed ‘Biafrans’ for “complying and adhering to our National demands, our calls and demand for a civil disobedience against Nigeria state.”
MASSOB, he added, “gladly salutes the people of Biafra for their love, confidence and trust bestowed on IPOB, MASSOB and other Biafra agitating groups, the effect of today’s civil disobedience further proved that MASSOB and IPOB are major factors to be reckoned with in the affairs of Ndigbo and Nigeria in general.
“MASSOB demands for the immediate and unconditional release of Mazi Nnamdi KANU, Benjamin Onwuka, Chidiebere Onwudiwe and other detained pro Biafra agitators in Nigerian prisons mostly in Onitsha and Awka.
“The more these Biafran Jews are detained, the more Nigeria will continue to experience economic, political and diplomatic phenomenon that always cripples her system of existence.
“We see the heavy downpour that crippled scanty activities in Onitsha as a divine intervention and endorsement by Chukwu Okike Abiama (God of Abraham).”
In separate statement, the Media and Publicity Secretary of IPOB, Mr Emma Powerful, congratulated ‘Biafrans’ and all the people who showed solidarity by obeying the sit at home protest which, according to him, “took place in all the continents of the world, countries in Europe ,America, South America, Australia, some Asian and other African countries.”
He listed the countries where IPOB members observed the protest as USA, Brazil, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Japan, Israel, Germany, Finland, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Spain, Italy, UK, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Mexico, Malaysia, UAE, South Africa, Ghana, Senegal, Egypt, Gabon, Togo, Kenya, Australia, Sweden Denmark, and China, and other countries too numerous to mention.”
He added: “we thank the general public for observing the day with us, injustice can no more be encouraged, for showing us this kind of solidarity with the quest for the restoration of Biafra,. We are most grateful, this is an assurance that people are in agreement with our zero tolerance for intimidation and harassment.”
However, the Ralph Uwazuruike-led Biafra Independence Movement (BIM) was not part of the protest having asked its supporter to go about their lawful businesses.
It daubed the IPOB order selfish and ill timed.
“Giving such an order in the face of the current economic hardship inflicted on Ndigbo by the Nigerian government, will cause more harm than good,” it said.
BIM said it was senseless to ask Ndigbo to stay away from their means of livelihood and debunked IPOB’s claim that it fully discussed with various Igbo groups before handing down the stay at home order.
“BIM was never consulted and we would never have consented to such a sudden order by IPOB,” it said
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Police warn as IPOB plans sit-at-home protest
The police yesterday warned against any protest in the Southeast.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Movermnet for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) have called for a shutdown of businesses in the Southeast today to protest the continued detention of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu.
Apparently in anticipation of the action, many people were yesterday shopping for food and household items.
The police in Anambra State said MASSOB and IPOB members should retrace their steps.
In a statement yesterday in Awka, police spokesperson Nkeiruka Nwode, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), advised parents to warn their children and wards against joining the protest.
But MASSOB leader Uchenna Madu said what the groups were planning was “sit at home” and not a protest or demonstration.
He said MASSOB and IPOB had warned their members not to go onto the streets; they should stay at home to protest Nnamdi Kanu’s continued detention.
But the police said: “The attention of Anambra State Police Command has been drawn to information that some misguided elements have perfected plans to cause public disorder and conduct themselves in a manner that is likely to cause breach of the peace.
“The command is using this medium to warn such elements to retrace their steps and desist from embarking on any acts of criminality.
“In the same vein, parents are advised to warn their children/wards from being used for acts of illegality.
“The command is reassuring law abiding Anambra citizens to go about their normal and lawful duties as the police is firmly effective on the ground to ensure any acts of crime or criminality will be decisively dealt with.
“Patrol teams and other policing apparatus have been emplaced to ensure protection of life and public safety.”
On Sunday, IPOB and MASSOB issued a directive that people should stay at home today to protest Kanu’s detention – for many months.
The groups ordered all the markets in the Southeast, banks, institutions, motorist and civil liberty groups to shut down activities.