Sit-at-home: Why Senate Rejects Motion To Release Nnamdi Kanu

The circumstances surrounding the rejection of a motion to release from detention the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu have triggered a series of questions about the chaotic situations in the Southeast region of Nigeria.

In motion which was moved by Senator Osita Izunaso (Imo West), he sought to address the constant sit-at-home order enforced by unknown gunmen in the South-East, a deafening approach to which the house clamped down the import could have other domain extensions beyond the peripheral views of the public.

Meanwhile, the lawmaker, in the motion co-sponsored by other lawmakers from the South-East, noted that the senators were aware that thousands of innocent lives had been lost since the action started, and properties worth over a trillion had been destroyed resulting in investors leaving the region.

He said,

“The sit-at-home civil disobedience actions in the South-East have led to the disruption/destruction of economic activities and immeasurable financial losses for businesses, workers, and the local economy. Because, when people are forced to stay at home and businesses remain closed, productivity declines and income is reduced, affecting livelihoods and economic growth.

“The “sit-at-home” protests disrupt the education of students, leading to missed classes and delays in academic progress. And such prolonged disruptions have long-term effects on students’ learning outcomes and educational development; Disturbed that disruption of essential public services, such as healthcare, transportation, and waste disposal, continues to have a severe impact during “sit-at-home” protests which adversely affect the well-being and safety of the general population living in the South-East.”

Recall that IPOB had in August 2021 declared a sit-at-home order every Monday across the South-East to protest the continued detention of Kanu. The separatist group eventually suspended the order.

However, the leader of a faction of IPOB, Simon Ekpa, has continued to declare sit-at-home orders in the region despite the exercise being suspended by the Director of State for the IPOB under the Supreme leadership of Kanu.

Residents of the five South-East states: Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia, and Anambra have constantly been killed, maimed, and attacked by gunmen enforcing the civil order for stepping out on Mondays and other days in violation of the order.

Consequently, the clamour for a political solution to the lingering issues in the region once again ended in a deadlock.

Reasons for the rejection of the motion remain vague as no further reactions have been made by the house which still places the hope of the residents of the five states of the Southeast region in bewilderment.

Concerned citizens from the region and beyond have reacted differently to the issue calling on the president, Bola Tinubu to quickly address the issues by releasing the IPOB’s leader, according to the various rulings of courts of competent jurisdictions.