The Abia State government on Sunday urged residents of the state to ignore the sit-at-home order by the Indigenous People of Biafra, and urged parents to release their children to write the English Language West African Senior School Certificate Examination scheduled to take place nationwide on Monday and Tuesday.
The Commissioner for Information, John Kalu, said in a statement that it is unacceptable for any individual or group to instill fear in the people to the extent of negatively impacting the education of school children.
He said, “While we do not begrudge any citizen the right to sit at home or go about their normal duties, as long as it does not infringe on the rights of others, we cannot afford to sit idly and watch the future of our children jeopardized and the economic well-being of our people further wrecked over a matter we believe can be resolved judicially or through political negotiations.”
The government asked parents to release their children for the examination, and leaders of market and transport unions to ensure that markets are open and transport vehicles deployed for regular activities in the state.
“Any market that is closed or transport union that fails to operate will be closed and disbanded, respectively, by government till further notice.
“As a responsible government, we will continue to explore all avenues to ensure peaceful resolution of the issues that have led to the agitations by the concerned non state actors but we will not shirk our responsibility to the majority of our people who are also suffering silently out of no fault of theirs.
“All security agencies in the state are hereby directed to fully deploy at all flash points on Monday and going forward as well as maintain regular patrols to ensure the safety and protection of law abiding citizens and visitors from any form of molestation.”
IPOB ordered the sit-at-home order, for every Monday, to put pressure on the Nigerian government over the detained IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who is standing trial for treason in Abuja.