Despite Governor Peter Mbah’s directives and assurances for provision of adequate security, residents of Enugu state capital failed to leave their homes on Monday morning.
The Governor had last week directed that all offices including public and private institutions must be open for businesses on Monday, threatening to place sanctions on anybody or entity that fails to comply.
Mbah went further to broadcast that he had made adequate security provision for people to come out to conduct their businesses, even with the Enugu state police command adding that it’s personnel were red alert to forestall any security breach.
But the Finland based leader of the autopilot, an arm of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPoB, Simon Ekpa responded to Governor Mbah with a matching threat, saying that no Nigeria
government operates in Biafra land and insisted that the Monday sit-at-home must continue to be observed in the seven Igbo-speaking states of south east and south-south.
Probably overwhelmed by the orders, threats and counter threats, residents of the state decided to avoid any possible morning casuality.
When our correspondent inspected the level of compliance at about 8am, usual busy streets such as Nike lake road, Trans-Ekulu, Chime Avenue, Abakpa were deserted.
Markets such as Abakpa Timber market remained under lock and key as at 8:05am while schools failed to open their gates.
A resident, Mr. Mike Ogbu said that the threat and counter threats from both the state government and the Simon Ekpa were too scaring.
“I expected that Governor Peter Mbah would have used the Anambra example to do his own differently. Soludo came with such force in Anambra and the result was several killings. How can civil servants go to work when buses are not on the road?
“What I expected the new Governor to address is how to cushion the effects of this fuel price increase that people can be going to work and not to engage in confrontation with the Biafra people which you know how they have held Anambra and Imo states to ransom; or is that what you want to happen here? I think that this is the reason people have chosen to stay in their homes, if you want to sack them from work, fine, but they will not seen death and put their heads,” Ogbu said.
