Sit-at-home: Owerri residents lament, blame South East Govs
Residents of Owerri, the Imo state capital, yesterday lamented the every Monday Sit-at-home order by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, describing it as counter-productive to the welfare of the people.
This is even as they have blamed the ugly situation on the insensitivity of the south east governors and political leaders who they accused of doing nothing to secure the release of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of IPOB from detention.
Residents of Owerri, again observed the Monday sit-at-home “ritual” as traders locked up their shops and even most commercial bus operators stayed off the roads of Owerri in compliance to the sit-at-home orders by the leadership indigenous Peoples of Biafra. The few commercial bus operators that ventured out hiked their fares.
Engr. Okoro Ibe, a resident of World Bank lamented that the regular Monday sit-at-home across the South east by the leadership of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra has become counter- productive to the people of the state.
He maintained that while the people are behind the course of the IPOB cannot continue this.
“This every Monday sit-at-home is affecting the livelihood of the people in the state .Traders have shut down their shops for fear of being molested by some miscreants. For instance I am supposed to go to a building site that I am supervising today but the workers called me this morning and told me that they cannot come to work that this Monday is sit-at-home by IPOB.
“While we support IPOB but we don’t have to destroy our own business in the name of sit-at-home and I think that we have to review this strategy and it cannot be every day. I will blame the governors of the South East because they are responsible for this ugly situation because if they have done what they are supposed to do Nnamdi Kanu would have been released.
“The people have refused to obey the governors because they have abandoned the people they claim to govern because of their selfish desire to remain in the good books of President Buhari to detriment of their people,” he said.
Also, one of the traders at Douglas Road who simply identified himself as Benedict, decried the situation, adding that he is not against the IPOB but that people should not be forced to stay at home every Monday.
“The school has just resumed and I have to pay school fees for my children and also buy their books. Last Monday was sit-at-home, last Thursday when Buhari came to Imo was also sit -at-home and again today (Monday) and we have been told that Tuesday is another sit -at- home which they said is to honour those who have died in the struggle for the fight for Biafra. The south east governors should be blamed for this situation,” Benedict said.
Aloy Nnaji, a commercial bus driver put the cause squarely on the leaders of the south east who he accused on betraying the people .But he appealed to the leaders of the IPOB to consider the sufferings of the people and cancel the sit -at -,home order and ask the people to observe it whenever Nnamdi kanu is coming to court.
(Daily Sun)
