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The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) said the weekly enforcement of the sit-at-home order in the South-East will be suspended to allow for peaceful general elections in February.
This was contained in the statement issued by the group's spokesman, Emma Powerful, on Thursday, February 2, 2023.
Recall IPOB had declared a sit-at-home on every Monday of the week since its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, was detained by the Federal Government after being repatriated to Nigeria from Kenya in 2021.
The move had given rise to violence in the region as groups believed to be acting on behalf of IPOB continue to harass citizens in the course of enforcing the order.
Even though the group had earlier renounced the sit-at-home order, people in the South-East still find it difficult to move around freely on Mondays.
While reinforcing the secessionist group's stance, Powerful on Wednesday insisted that IPOB has not issued any sit-at-home order for the 2023 general elections.
Pulse reports that the group asked the people of the South-East to boycott the 2019 general elections and had also maintained the same position ahead of the upcoming election.
But, the spokesman pointed out that the boycott has been called off and that people of the region are free to participate in the elections.
The statement reads: “IPOB led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has never forcefully obstructed the election process in Nigeria. Rather, we once called Biafrans to boycott elections, which was later called off.
“We have maintained that we don’t have any interest in the Nigeria shambolic political selection process called Nigeria elections scheduled for February 2023. Our interest and focus is the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and the date for Biafra referendum for Biafrans to determine their political future in or outside Nigeria.
“We knew that this mushroom group called PANPIEC is among those sponsoring this fake group claiming that they are IPOB issuing and enforcing reckless sit at homes in the East.
“If they are not their sponsors, why do they keep linking the paid agents of confusion with us even as IPOB have publicly denounced any link with Simon Ekpa and his collaborators?
“It’s on record and in the public domain that IPOB has not called for any sit-at-home during the February elections. It’s also obvious that IPOB and ESN do not have any faction or splinter groups. IPOB remains peaceful and indivisible under one command for the liberation of Biafra Nation from the Republic called Nigeria.
“We reiterate for the records that, IPOB has not, did not, and will not issue any sit-at-home order in February during the elections period. We also did not call for any boycott of the upcoming elections yet.
“The focus of IPOB is the release from illegal detention of our Leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, whom Appeal Court and other courts have discharged and acquitted since 13th of October 2022, and Biafra referendum date.”