The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has appealed to the members of the Indigenous People of Biafra to rescind the sit-at-home order which is to be observed every Monday.
It also appealed to the military and police authorities to stop the militarisation of the South-East where every kilometre has a checkpoint like a conquered territory.
The Igbo apex body said the sit-at-home would increase the hardship the Igbos were going through with the military and police checkpoints that are stiflingly the economy of the region.
National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze, Chief Alex Ogbonnia, who made the appeal in a telephone interview, advised the group that instead of declaring sit-at-home for every Monday, they should come together to discuss their grievances towards resolving them.
Speaking on the sit-at-home declared by IPOB, starting from August 9, in solidarity with their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, Ohanaeze spokesman said, “Kanu is no longer an issue of a group operating in Igboland. Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has demonstrated that there is a need for us to come together and discuss the next line of action.
“For a group to come up to try to dictate for the Igbo on the days to go to work and days they shouldn’t go to work for Nnamdi Kanu is unwise. The wise thing to do is to make wider consultation with the people and the leadership of the region.
“They (IPOB) will be adding hardship to the Igbos by that proclamation the same way the military checkpoints are adding hardship to the people of Igbo by continuous victimisation of the innocent.
“So the military, police should listen to us and reduce so many checkpoints that they mounted everywhere and send the operatives to northern states where insurgency and bandits are having a field day.”
The Ohanaeze spokesman maintained that “blockages with checkpoints everywhere are causing hardship to Igbo people and all these things are part of the agitation we are talking about.
“While we are urging our youths to come to us to discuss on how to go about our collective agitation, I’m also urging the Inspector-General of Police and Chief of Army Staff, that they should reduce the hardship of Igbos by reducing the numerous checkpoints in Igbo land. How can every kilometre have checkpoint like a conquered territory?”
