The Indigenous People of Biafra has insisted that the Monday sit-at-home is not a crime but a legal, peaceful civil protest, describing it as a symbolic act of solidarity with its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
The pro-Biafran group stated this in a press statement released by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, on Sunday.
Powerful was reacting to a call by the Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, who threatened to sanction any teaching and non-teaching staff who fail to report for work on Mondays.
Recall that the Anambra State Government also said it would begin implementing pro-rata salary payments for workers across the state as part of efforts to end the Monday sit-at-home, adding that effective February 2026, salaries of civil servants in the state would be paid on a pro-rata basis.
Reacting to the development, IPOB said the state’s move to turn a peaceful protest into punishable misconduct amounted to a declaration of war on the people’s dignity.
IPOB argued that a government that turns peaceful protest into punishable misconduct is simply declaring war on the people’s dignity.
It said, “The frustration in Igboland is deep. The anger is justified. The pain is historic. And the Monday sit-at-home is a token expression of that collective burden.
According to the group, if Soludo proceeds to establish any task force, enforcement squad or vigilante-style unit to coerce citizens into opening shops through threats, extortion, harassment, arrests or intimidation, “then he has crossed a red line”.
The group therefore urged Soludo, “in his own interest, to stop threatening Ndi Anambra and Ndi Igbo. The people are not his enemies. His duty is to protect them, not punish them; to lead them, not provoke them; to serve them, not subjugate them.
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