Stakeholders endorse Mbah’s move to end IPOB’s Monday sit-at-home in Enugu

Stakeholders in the affairs of Enugu State on Saturday endorsed Governor Peter Mbah’s resolve to end the weekly “sit-at-home’’ order by the proscribed Independent People of Biafra (IPOB).

They gave their endorsements at a town hall meeting convened by the governor.

The stakeholders included the Police, the NLC, traditional rulers, and students, NGOs, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

Others are the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), financial institutions, transport unions and traders unions.

The town hall meeting deliberated on “Ending Sit-At-Home Order in Enugu State; The Way Forward.’’

Addressing the meeting, Gov. Mbah said the impact of the sit-at-home order was deleterious and would not allow him to deliver on promises he made during his campaigns.

He noted that the order disrupted economic activities and had negative impact on children, whom, he said, would not be able to compete with their peers as they did not go to school on Mondays.

“The damage is quantifiable and we must end it now. It is about us and our children’s future,’’ the governor said.

Commending security agencies for providing security on Monday, June 5 when the sit-at-home order ended in Enugu State, Mbah urged them to double their efforts to secure lives and property on subsequent Mondays

In his remarks, Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Ahmed Ammani, assured residents of adequate security on Mondays.

He said security agencies had deployed personnel to strategic places in the state to deal with those enforcing the sit-at-home order.

He urged the residents to support the security agencies with intelligence reports to tackle the menace.

Representative of CAN, Enugu State chapter, Rev. Osita Edeh, expressed appreciation of efforts being made by Gov. Mbah to effect the release of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

He charged security agencies to remain friendly while discharging their duties.

In his contribution, Chairman, Southeast Traditional Rulers Council, Amb. Lawrence Agubuzu, noted that only Enugu State was observing the sit-at-home order out the nine states that were in the defunct Biafra.

He said many countries that agitated for independence did so without killing their people or forcing them to sit-at-home.

He stressed that traditional rulers had a role to play by educating their subjects on the need to end the order.

NBA Chairman in Enugu State, Ferdinand Ugwueze, in his remarks assured Gov. Mbah of the association’s support to end the sit-at-home order.

He argued that it would be easy to end the sit-at-home order once Nnamdi Kanu was released.

Ugwueze urged the Federal Government to obey court orders that freed Kanu for peace and tranquillity to prevail in the Southeast.

Representatives of students and labour at the meeting assured Gov. Mbah that students would be in school and workers would be in their offices if adequate security was provided.