Threatening to close markets and schools in Enugu while enforcing the stay-at-home order

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who are outlawed, have issued a sit-at-home order, and the Enugu State Government has threatened to close schools and marketplaces in observance.

This was said in a statement made on Tuesday by Chidiebere Onyia, Secretary to the State Government.

The statement claims that owners of private schools in the state sent messages to their students and students warning them not to attend class due to the unauthorized one-week sit-at-home edict issued by anonymous non-state actors in the state.

“The Enugu State Government is alarmed and dismayed by this development and hereby warns that any school that fails to open and function normally from today will have its license revoked immediately,” the statement said in part.

The state’s marketplaces and stores must be available to the public or they would be permanently closed, according to the government.

“Government reiterates its prohibition on all illegal sit-at-home activities in the state, calling them evil and incompatible with the principles that define who we are as a people, including the Igbo spirit of industry, grit, innovation, and productivity.

“Adequate security measures have been put in place to protect lives and property,” the statement reads. “The general public is urged to go about their normal daily activities.”

The government issued a warning, stating that those who support the illegal sit-at-home order will be pursued and prosecuted using all available legal means, including the Cybercrime Act of 2015.