The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has announced a region-wide sit-at-home scheduled for Monday, February 2, 2026, across the five states of Nigeria’s South-East, in solidarity with traders at the Onitsha Main Market.
The declaration appears to directly challenge the directive issued by Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, ordering traders to resume business activities on Mondays. IPOB described the planned action as peaceful and non-violent.
In a statement released by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, the pro-Biafra group said the sit-at-home represents a “direct, peaceful, and unified response” to what it described as the “tyrannical actions” of the Anambra State government.
According to the statement, IPOB accused Governor Soludo of shutting down the Onitsha Main Market for one week and threatening harsher measures, including extended market closures, revocation of land ownership, demolition of properties, and punitive repurposing of traders’ assets, should traders continue observing the Monday sit-at-home.
“Under the leadership of our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the Indigenous People of Biafra hereby declares a Biafra-wide solidarity strike — a total lockdown of all economic activities across Igboland and wider Biafran territories — on Monday, February 2, 2026,” the statement read in part.
IPOB stressed that the action is aimed at expressing solidarity with Onitsha traders and protesting what it described as the continued injustice against its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu, while reaffirming that the sit-at-home would be conducted peacefully.
The announcement adds to the growing tension between the separatist group and the Anambra State government, amid ongoing debates over security, economic activities, and civil obedience in the South-East.
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