Posted by The Senate has rejected a motion to release Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the outlawed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra.
Senator Osita Izunaso (Imo West) introduced the motion to address the continual sit-at-home order enforced by unknown gunmen in the South-East.
In a resolution co-sponsored by other South-East politicians, the congressman stated that senators were aware that hundreds of innocent lives had been lost since the action began, and properties worth over a trillion dollars had been destroyed, causing investors to flee the region.
“The South-East’s sit-at-home civil disobedience actions have resulted in the disruption/destruction of economic activities and immeasurable financial losses for businesses, workers, and the local economy,” he stated. Because when people are forced to stay at home and firms close, productivity and income fall, harming livelihoods and economic progress.
“The “sit-at-home” protests disrupt students’ education, resulting in missed classes and academic delays.” And such long-term 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, adversely affecting the general population living in the South-East.”
However, the Senate rejected calls for a political solution to the case of arrested IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, who is now in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), particularly the dropping of all court cases against him.
Senators rejected the proposal when it was put to a voice vote by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
In his remark, Akpabio stated that the governors of the South-East were not doing enough to address the situation.
“What steps have the various state governments in this region taken to combat this scourge?” Because this is a localized issue, citizens would know that the government is functioning if the perpetrators are apprehended and paraded.
“If the state’s governor observes the sit-and-stay, and civil servants who work for the government also sit at home.” Criminals would gain power.”
He insisted that the threat be stopped to alleviate the suffering of the people in the area, claiming that the action is causing fear and hunger in the country.
The Senate also conducted a minute of silence in memory of those who died as a result of the sit-at-home advocates’ actions.
Remember that in August 2021, IPOB proclaimed a sit-at-home order for every Monday in the South-East to protest Kanu’s continued arrest. The order was eventually suspended by the separatist faction.
Despite the fact that the IPOB section led by Kanu has ceased the exercise, the leader of a part of IPOB, Simon Ekpa, has continued to announce sit-at-home orders across the region.
Residents of the five South-East states of Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia, and Anambra have been repeatedly killed, wounded, and attacked by gunmen enforcing the civil order for going out on Mondays and other days when the order is violated.