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The proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has been thrown into a fresh crisis following a new sit-at-home order to protest the closure of Onitsha Main Market.
Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State had on 26 January, ordered the closure of Onitsha Main Market for one week, after the traders failed to open their shops for business activities on that day.
2 February 2025
A week before that day, the governor visited the market, where he lamented that the once-famed “biggest market in West Africa” had collapsed into a shadow of its old self, adding that the market was “literally dead.”
The governor further threatened to shut down the market for one month if the shop owners failed to open on Monday, 2 February.
In a meeting with the market leaders last week, Soludo also disclosed his plans to reconstruct the market and provide security for the traders on Mondays.
The market leaders agreed to these plans.
Origin of Monday sit-at-home in Southeast
Following Nnamdi Kanu’s arrest in Kenya and his detention by the Department of State Services (DSS), the IPOB leadership—specifically the Directorate of State (DOS) faction —announced a mandatory sit-at-home order every Monday to mount economic and political pressure on the Nigerian government to release Kanu unconditionally.
Initially, the order saw significant compliance as a show of solidarity with Kanu. However, the DOS faction of the IPOB officially suspended the weekly Monday order just a few weeks later (around August 14, 2021), stating it would only be observed on days Kanu appeared in court.
Despite this cancellation, an autopilot faction led by Simon Ekpa insisted on continuing the weekly Monday lockdowns, leading to a “double-command” situation that confused and terrified the residents.
Since it started, enforcers of the Monday sit-at-home order have killed many residents and destroyed properties worth millions in the South-east.
How fresh crisis in DOS faction of IPOB began
The DOS faction of IPOB loyal to Kanu had on 26 January, condemned the closure of the Onitsha market.
The IPOB on 30 January, dared the governors of the South-east by declaring a fresh complete lockdown of all economic activities across the region on 2 February to protest the closure of the Onitsha market.
In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Emma Powerful, the proscribed group called on traders, transporters, banks, schools, civil servants, and every sector across Anambra, Abia, Imo, Enugu, and Ebonyi states, and beyond, to observe the solidarity lockdown peacefully.
He said the total shutdown across the South-East was a direct, peaceful, and unified response to the actions of Governor Soludo, who shut down the market for one week.
Before the group split into factions, Powerful has been the IPOB’s publicity secretary for over a decade.
He has also enjoyed direct access to the Nigerian journalists over the years.
‘No more Emma Powerful pseudonym in our statements’
However, the Head of the DOS faction of the IPOB, Chukwukadibia Edoziem, asked the South-east residents to ignore the sit-at-home order.
The DOS in a post on Facebook on Saturday, directed that the use of the pseudonym “Emma Powerful”, by the group has ended, adding that all official IPOB press releases must henceforth be issued only on the organisation’s official letterhead paper.
He explained that the pseudonym Emma Powerful, which had been operationally used by the IPOB Publicity Secretary for disseminating press releases, has been abused, misused, and compromised, thereby posing serious risks to the movement.
Edoziem said that IPOB considers it critically imperative to make these clarifications as part of its commitment to ensuring that the global IPOB movement operates in line with globally recognised and accepted institutional best practices.
I am authentic IPOB spokesperson — Emma Powerful
Responding on Sunday, Powerful insisted that he is the authentic IPOB spokesperson who represents the group’s media department.
He also advised residents in the Southeast to comply with the sit-at-home order on 2 February.
“Any government or APC agent masquerading as IPOB will be exposed in due course. It is public knowledge that Ifeanyi Ejiofor has been sacked by Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and neither represents him nor the IPOB he leads.”
Responding to a former IPOB lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, who frowned at the latest sit-at-home order, Powerful claimed that the lawyer was sacked over 2 years ago and has no business with Nnamdi Kanu.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Ifeanyi Ejiofor wrote to me yesterday( Saturday), requesting that I call off the sit-at-home. If I do not exist, who exactly did he write to? He no longer represents our leader and has no authority within IPOB,” he said.
‘They are trying to hijack IPOB’
He also alleged that the IPOB DOS and another member, Chinasa Nworu, contacted him last week and asked him to stop issuing statements publicizing Kanu’s unlawful detention, and he refused.
“That was when they started plotting to hijack the leadership of IPOB and divert attention away from our leader.
“Those individuals appointed into the Directorate of State (DOS) by our leader, have compromised the integrity of this struggle by holding meetings with Governor Soludo aimed at undermining the solidarity shown to Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu by the traders of Onitsha Main Market should be ashamed of themselves.
“The public is hereby advised to disregard every fake and fabricated resignation being circulated in my name. I spoke with a member of DOS two days ago in the person of Chinasa Nworu, who wants me to abandon our leader in detention. If I “do not exist,” the public should ask him who he spoke to.”
He claimed that “Anti Biafra Forces” opposed to the release of Kanu have infiltrated and hijacked the online using the names of IPOB and DOS to confuse the public.
“These political jobbers do not work for Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and do not speak for IPOB. They will be unmasked.
“I will be appearing on talk shows and granting radio and media interviews from today through tomorrow morning.
“Attempts to use my temporary non-appearance to claim I ‘do not exist’ are laughable. The same individuals I spoke with days ago are now spreading falsehoods online. While agents of the Nigerian government may have seized control of elements within DOS, the wider IPOB family remains uncontaminated.
“Biafrans are advised to beware of charlatans, ignore misinformation, and comply with the sit-at-home order on Monday,” he added.
IPOB — one group, many factions
The IPOB), originally founded by Kanu, has undergone significant fragmentation since his re-arrest in 2021.
What was once a strong unified organization is now a constellation of competing factions, each claiming legitimacy and a unique path toward Biafran independence.
These internal divisions have created a number of conflicting directives, varying levels of militancy, and intense online propaganda wars.
IPOB seeks a sovereign state of Biafra and wants the five Southeast states and some parts of South-south carved out of Nigeria.
Often referred to as the “Mainstream” or the Directorate of State (DOS), this faction remains loyal to the original administrative structure established by Nnamdi Kanu. Fronted by spokesperson Emma Powerful and Chika Edoziem, this group manages the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and maintains the official IPOB media channels. They frequently clash with Simon Ekpa’s followers, accusing them of being “infiltrators” or “counter-productive” to the cause, and they generally advocate for a more structured, albeit still separatist, diplomatic approach while Kanu remains in custody.
The most controversial breakaway group is led by Simon Ekpa, a Finnish-Nigerian citizen. Operating under the “Autopilot” banner, Ekpa’s faction is known for its uncompromising and often aggressive tactics, most notably the frequent enforcement of “sit-at-home” orders across Southeast Nigeria. While Ekpa claims to be Kanu’s disciple, his faction has largely decoupled from the central leadership in Europe, using social media to command a loyalist paramilitary wing known as the Biafra Republican Government in Exile (BRGIE).
The Ngọzi Orabueze and Oge Nkere-led factions split from Ekpa’s autopilot group after his arrest and sentence over terrorism in Finland in 2026.
Representing a more administrative and governance-focused shift, the faction led by Ngọzi Orabueze emerged as a challenge to the DOS’s handling of the movement.
Orabueze was appointed by some members as the “Interim Leader” or “Head of Government” to provide a clear political structure that the movement lacked in the wake of the leadership vacuum.
This faction emphasizes the need for a transitional government and international legal frameworks, attempting to pivot the movement’s image away from militant rhetoric toward a more formal, state-like entity.
The Oge Nkere faction represents another layer of the struggle for the “soul” of the movement. Nkere, who has served as a broadcaster for Radio Biafra, leads a group that often critiques both the DOS faction for deviating from the original ideological purity of the struggle.
This faction focuses heavily on financing armed militia operations in Nigeria’s Southeast, claiming to be the true custodians of Nnamdi Kanu’s teachings.
