October 1: Ebonyi residents won’t obey IPOB’s sit-at-home order, says Umahi

David Umahi, governor of Ebonyi, says residents of the state will not sit at home on October 1, as ordered by the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

Nigeria will celebrate its 61st independence anniversary on October 1.

IPOB had ordered a sit-at-home in the south-east on October 1, and said it will bring down Nigerian flags in the south-east region.

Speaking with journalists on Thursday in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi capital, Umahi said the October 1 date is very important to Nigeria and to the state, which was created on October 1, 1996.

The governor said Ebonyi had been so deprived in the past and was trying to catch up with the rest of the country on innovations.

“So, anybody that says ‘sit at home’ should know that Ebonyi people are not going to sit at home,” NAN quoted him as saying.

“I appeal to the entire south-east people to remember the danger of this order. Many people have been killed for no reason because it.

“Agitation is natural and fundamental, but nobody is justified to carry guns illegally to kill other people.

“We condemn in totality the insecurity in the south-east being instigated by our people.”

IPOB had on July 30, ordered a sit-at-home in the south-east every Monday until Nnamdi Kanu, its leader, is released from the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).

However, on August 14, the group announced a suspension of the order.

But for about five weeks, parts of the south-east have been deserted on Mondays.