The outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has denied declaring a one-week sit-at-home across South-east Nigeria.

Simon Ekpa, the leader of Autopilot, a faction of the IPOB, had, in a statement on 14 June, announced that there would be a one-week sit-at-home in the region.

Ekpa, a self-acclaimed prime minister of the Biafra Republic Government in Exile, said the sit-at-home would hold from 3 to 5 July and continue from Friday, 7 – 10 July.

The agitator said the proposed civil action was to demand the “immediate and unconditional release” of the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who has been detained at the facility of Nigeria’s secret police, State Security Service (SSS).

He said the action was also in preparation for the conduct of “Biafra’s self-referendum.”

But when contacted on Thursday, Emma Powerful, the spokesperson of the IPOB, told Premium Times that the sit-at-home declaration did not emanate from the group.

“IPOB did not declare the infamous sit-at-home. Those doing that (declaring the sit-at-home) are criminals who want to use Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s name and IPOB to perpetrate criminalities in the South-eastern states, but it won’t work for them,” he said.

“They want Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to remain in the SSS solitary confinement,” Powerful added.

IPOB, in August 2021, introduced a sit-at-home order every Monday across the South-east to pressure the Nigerian government to release its detained leader, Mr Kanu, who is standing trial on alleged terrorism at the Federal High Court, Abuja.

The separatist group later suspended the order in preference for the order to be implemented only on the days Kanu appears in court.

(Premium Times)