The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), on Tuesday, condemned the Anambra State Government over the reported sealing of shops at the Onitsha Main Market, urging Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo to immediately reverse the action and unseal all affected businesses.

In a statement by its spokesperson, Emma Powerful, IPOB said it received “credible reports” that the state government had begun sealing shops belonging to traders who failed to open their businesses on Mondays, allegedly in line with an earlier warning by the governor against the continued observance of sit-at-home in parts of the South-East.

Attempts to confirm the action were unsuccessful. But IPOB, describing the move as “deeply troubling, reckless, and authoritarian,” argued that the action amounted to collective punishment of innocent traders who had committed no crime.

The group said, “To seal the shops of hardworking traders because they did not open on a particular day is not governance; it is collective punishment. Even under a simple landlord-tenant relationship, a landlord cannot lawfully lock out a tenant for not sleeping in the house on a particular day. Such an act would amount to unlawful eviction.”

IPOB reiterated that its leader, Mazi Nnamdi KanuMazi Nnamdi Kanu, has repeatedly and publicly called for an end to the sit-at-home and the violent enforcement of it by any individual or group, stressing that its position on the matter has not changed.

The group maintained that public behaviour cannot be altered through threats or punitive actions, noting that fear, past experiences, and unresolved grievances continue to shape public responses in the region.

It added, “Our leader, Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has consistently called for an end to sit-at-home and the violent enforcement of it. Where sit-at-home still occurs, it is a voluntary civil expression of solidarity by ordinary people who are pained by the continued illegal detention of our leader. It is not a policy of coercion.

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“Governor Soludo, as an economist and self-professed intellectual, should understand that societal patterns do not change at the snap of a finger simply because a governor issues threats from a podium.

“People are not automatons. They are citizens with fears, experiences, and memories of past injustices.”

IPOB warned that the sealing of shops and other economic sanctions would not restore normalcy in the state but could instead heighten tension and mistrust between the government and the people.

“Intimidation, threats, and economic punishment will not produce the normalcy the governor claims to desire. Such heavy-handed tactics risk provoking unnecessary tension and deepening mistrust.”

The group also expressed disappointment that an Igbo governor would adopt measures it described as reminiscent of the economic repression historically faced by Igbo people in other parts of the country, adding that, “The duty of an Igbo governor is to protect his people, not to traumatise them with the same instruments of intimidation used elsewhere.”

Calling for restraint, IPOB urged Governor Soludo to adopt dialogue and persuasion rather than force, emphasising that leadership should be rooted in justice and respect for citizens’ rights. (The Guardian)