Minority Leader of the Senate, Enyinnaya Abaribe, has disclosed that the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, told him in detention that he neither ordered nor knew about the Monday sit-at-home, still being observed in the South-east.
He described it as unfortunate that businesses are now relocating to other regions as a result of tension in the South-east.
“What is happening in the South-east is a tragedy. Every Monday people sit at home in what they call ‘Holy Monday’. What is holy in making people suffer like this?
“IPOB has said countless times that they are not the ones enforcing the order. We don’t know who is enforcing it neither does it seem like we have a way to solve it.
“I went with Ike Ekweremadu and two bishops to the DSS to see Nnamdi Kanu and he told us: ‘I have never said people should sit at home’. I told him that nobody believes you outside; because people have said they don’t like it but they keep sitting at home.
“There is no way we are going to survive like this. You are sitting at home and the people who you are doing these things for are in Lagos and in Abuja and everywhere and they don’t care. And you are here killing your own.
“Aba is known for bringing and opening containers of imported goods on Mondays. So, the problems we’re having today is that because of the sit-at-home, people now go to Port Harcourt, Uyo and Calabar to open their containers. They’re leaving South-east and moving out to Lagos. When we all leave, who will you blame? The captains of industries are no longer there,” Abaribe said.
He lamented that the insecurity of the Southeast had assumed the biggest problem of the region.
“Insecurity in the Southeast is the biggest problem we are facing now. And the sooner we tackle it the better for us. Even if you are seeking a separate country, why would you destroy your own place with your hands? You need to have a viable country and not a scattered one,” he said.
He called on Ndigbo to concentrate on making the Southeast economic hub of Nigeria irrespective of the outcome of their 2023 presidential quest.
Abaribe also bemoaned the negative impact of the Monday sit-at-home on the economy of the region, saying rather than achieve anything good, the exercise is chasing businessmen away from the region.