Biafra Day: Sit-at-home cripples businesses in Enugu, Imo

Imo map

The Enugu, State capital and Owerri, its Imo State counterpart, were quiet on Friday as residents complied with a sit-at-home order imposed by the Indigenous People of Biafra and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra to mark ‘2025 Biafra Day’.

IPOB has for years been directing residents to stay indoors every May 30 in honour of Biafra’s fallen heroes, a directive that continued this year.

Our correspondent, who monitored the situation across the Enugu metropolis, observed that government offices, banks, shops, schools, marketplaces, parks, shopping complexes, filling stations, and restaurants were all closed as the streets became deserted.

Some of the major streets visited in Enugu included Gariki, Agbani Road, Zik’s Avenue, Ogbete Market, State Secretariat, New Market, New Layout, Abakpa, Trans-Ekulu, Emene and Eke-Obinagu.

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Also, schools within the WTC area, including the University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu Campus and IMT Enugu, Practising Schools Emene, were locked with security operatives seen patrolling the streets to maintain law and order

Some residents, who spoke to Saturday PUNCH, attributed the widespread compliance to fear of possible violence, although some said they used it to rest after busy schedules during the week.

Another resident of Enugu, Sunday Ejike, said the Biafra Day should become a public holiday in the South-East region.

“There’s nothing wrong for the government of the South-East region to declare a public holiday on every May 30 for Biafra Day. If it is in the South-West, their leaders would have pressed the Federal Government to declare a national holiday but in the case of South-East, the leaders are very naïve.

“Why must soldiers, police and other security agencies attack innocent youths in the South-East because of Biafra Day? By doing so, the people will continue the agitation and the tension will increase,” he said. Punch