Onitsha Market Closure: IPOB declares sit-at-home in South-east, tackles Soludo

The outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has declared a one-day sit-at-home on Monday 2 February across Nigeria’s South-east.

Emma Powerful, the IPOB spokesperson, in a statement on Friday, said the sit-at-home directive was in protest against the closure of the Onitsha Main Market by Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that Governor Soludo ordered the closure of the market for one week when he visited on 26 January and observed that shops were closed in compliance with a sit-at-home directive by IPOB.

An IPOB faction usually enforces the initial illegal directive.

Stay Ahead with Premium Times

Add as a preferred source on Google

The Anambra State Government, on Monday night, claimed, without providing details, that the sit-at-home costs the state about N8 billion per week.

Mr Soludo’s action triggered heavy protests by angry traders in the state, who, on Tuesday, backed the Monday sit-at-home in honour of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu.

On Wednesday, the protesters blocked the popular River Niger Bridge, which connects Onitsha in Anambra State and Asaba in Delta State, in Nigeria’s South-South.

‘Complete lockdown’

Mr Powerful, in the Friday statement, said the latest sit-at-home would be observed across “all territories of Biafra”, a name used by Biafra agitators to refer to the South-east and some parts of the South-south.

“The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), under the resolute and prophetic leadership of our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, hereby declares a Biafra-wide solidarity strike, a complete lockdown of all economic activities across Igboland and wider Biafran territories, on Monday, 2 February 2026,” he said.

The IPOB spokesperson described Mr Soludo’s action as “tyrannical.”

“This strike is not enforcement; it is a voluntary, collective expression of outrage and solidarity with the hardworking traders of Onitsha, whose livelihoods are now under direct assault by a governor who has chosen to act as an enforcer for anti-Biafran interests rather than a servant of his people,” he stated.

He argued that Mr Soludo’s closure of the Onitsha Main Market and his “reckless” threats to revoke allocations and rebuild in “public interest” amounted to “economic warfare” against the people of the South-east and South-south.

“It is designed to break the spirit of peaceful civil disobedience that has highlighted the injustice of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s continued detention despite sham proceedings,” he said.

‘Sit-at-home not economic sabotage’

Mr Powerful argued that, contrary to Mr Soludo’s claim, sit-at-home is not economic sabotage or a form of criminality, but originated as a protest against Mr Kanu’s detention.

He stressed that the fact that markets thrived during the Christmas without a sit-at-home observance was proof that people’s compliance with the sit-at-home was voluntary and stems from genuine solidarity, not fear.

“On Monday, 2 February 2026, we call on all Biafrans – traders, transporters, banks, schools, civil servants, and every sector across Anambra, Abia, Imo, Enugu, Ebonyi, and beyond – to observe this solidarity strike peacefully.

“Remain indoors, refrain from all commercial and public activities, and demonstrate to the world our disciplined resolve,” he said.

“This is not about disruption for its own sake; it is about standing with Onitsha traders who are being punished for demanding justice, and reaffirming that no governor can coerce free citizens into abandoning their rights or their solidarity.”

The spokesperson urged all IPOB supporters to remain law-abiding and avoid provocations while remaining vigilant against false narratives intended to discredit the group’s cause.

“The world must see that Biafrans are a peaceful, mature people fighting for freedom through legitimate means—not the chaotic region Nigerian lobbyists desperately portray,” he added.

Background

The sit-at-home directive initially enforced by IPOB had resulted in deadly attacks and destruction of goods.

The illegal directive, usually observed on Mondays, began in the South-east in August 2021 when IPOB imposed it on residents of the region.

The directive was intended to pressure the Nigerian government to release Mr Kanu, who was facing terrorism charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The group later suspended the weekly directive, limiting it to days Mr Kanu appeared in court. However, residents of Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia and Anambra states continued to observe the directive largely out of fear.

Gunmen who often enforce the illegal directive have killed many residents and maimed others for flouting the directive.

IPOB had repeatedly distanced itself from the continued enforcement, insisting that those behind it were criminals exploiting the group’s name.

Despite this, Simon Ekpa, a Finland-based Biafra agitator, persisted in declaring the sit-at-home, even after being suspended by the IPOB faction loyal to Mr Kanu.

In July 2023, PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Kanu, through his lawyer Aloy Ejimakor, directed Mr Ekpa to halt the action. Mr Ekpa dismissed the directive as fake, insisting the order would continue unless Mr Kanu personally addressed him in Finland.

READ ALSO: Soludo meets market leaders, pledges maximum security around markets

Efforts by Igbo leaders, including Enugu Governor Peter Mbah, Anambra Governor Mr Soludo, and Ohanaeze Ndigbo, to end the practice yielded limited results.

While the sit-at-home has largely disappeared in Enugu, Abia, and Ebonyi states, it has persisted in Anambra and Imo.

Meanwhile, Mr Kanu was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for terrorism in November last year, while Mr Ekpa received a six-year prison sentence in Finland for similar offences.