Police authorities on Wednesday warned against the call by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) for a sit-at-home on October 1.
The Commissioner of Police in Ebonyi, Philip Maku, warned IPOB to steer clear of the state while stating that the proscribed group does not have the legal right to tell citizens to sit at home.
In his reaction to the directive by the leader of the proscribed group, Maku said: “People have the fundamental right to movement. If you try to restrict their right to move about and transact their lawful business activities, you are crossing the red line.
“If anyone tries to force people to sit at home, the Police will not fail to deal decisively with such persons,” he warned.
IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu had earlier said the call to sit-at-home was to protest “bad governance and economic annihilation”.
Kanu who gave the directive through a statement by IPOB Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, charged the Igbo to boycott all government activities earmarked for the Independence Day.
The statement said: “We, the global movement of IPOB, wish to announce to all Biafrans, friends of Biafra and lovers of freedom all over the world that Biafrans across the globe shall observe a sit-at-home in Biafraland in public protests to mark October 1, 2020.
“We, therefore, enjoin all Biafrans and every conscious Nigerian, especially those ethnic nationalities reeling from the triple blow of terrorism, bad governance and economic annihilation, to boycott every government organised ceremony designed to eulogise the failure that Nigeria has become.
“This is the time to let the world know how disastrously intolerable human existence is in Nigeria.
“If you want to see an end to terrorism and organised mediocrity, now is the time to register your anger by ensuring that you and your household sit-at-home on October 1, 2020.
“Do not risk the life and well-being of your children by allowing them to gather in groups in the open where terrorists may find it easier to blow them up or kidnap them.
“This order is to highlight our position and resolve as Biafrans that we are no longer interested in propping up a crumbling state.
“The leadership of this great movement in conjunction with supporters of Biafra freedom across the globe has concluded every arrangement to let the whole world know and understand that we are no longer part of this shambolic monument to terrorism and failure.”