The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on Tuesday opened up on the Monday, February 2, 2026 sit-at-home it declared to show solidarity with traders of Onitsha Main Market in Anambra State, following the closure of their shops by Governor Chukwuma Soludo.
In a statement by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, the group declared that “propaganda and deception” deployed by the government failed to mask the total compliance with the sit-at-home in Anambra.
IPOB in the same vein explained that its opposition to Soludo’s closure of Onitsha Main Market and subsequent threat to demolish shops was informed by the need to stop the governor from giving the impression that Igbo businesses, houses and other assets outside Igboland can be destroyed without consequences.
Explaining why it declared the February 2 sit-at-home despite the fact that its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, had put an end to its enforcement, IPOB said, “To allow Governor Soludo to intimidate our people into submission would set a dangerous precedent. It would signal to states outside Biafraland that Igbo homes and businesses can be destroyed at will and without consequences—as has repeatedly happened in Lagos and Abuja over the years. That is the clear implication of the threats now being issued against Onitsha traders.
“This is precisely what IPOB stands against. It must be remembered that our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, ended enforced sit-at-home many years ago; what is being defended today is not coercion, but dignity, solidarity, and the right of our people to resist intimidation.
“The message from the people of Biafra is clear and unmistakable: intimidation has lost its power. Unity defeated propaganda.”
The statement titled ‘Lies, propaganda and the failure of deception in Onitsha’, noted that the government made attempts to downplay the success of the February 2 sit-at-home.
The statement added, “The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) notes with deep concern that our people have entered an era where lies are deliberately manufactured and aggressively sold as truth by a compromised propaganda machinery. Biafrans must be prepared to confront this dangerous deception with clarity, courage, and collective resolve.
“Throughout the early hours of yesterday (Monday, February 2, 2026), there was total compliance with the sit-at-home order issued in solidarity with traders of Onitsha Main Market and other markets across the South-East. The markets were shut. The streets were empty. This reality was visible across Biafraland and beyond.
“The compliance was so total that even Soludo’s own local government area, Aguata, was under lockdown. Government House, Awka, was shut. No schools opened. No banks functioned. Government parastatals were deserted. Yet, in a desperate bid to manufacture a false narrative, a few rented security men and a handful of APGA party chairmen were hastily assembled to pose for BBC cameras—standing beneath visibly locked shops in an otherwise deserted market. This was not reporting; it was blatant deception.
“Once the scale of compliance became undeniable, a well-oiled and heavily financed propaganda network swung into action. Platforms that had earlier shown deserted markets suddenly reversed themselves, falsely claiming that shops were open. In Nigeria today, lies are elevated to truth, while truth is deliberately suppressed.
“Yesterday exposed this deception. If, as falsely claimed, the markets were opened, why did Governor Soludo threaten to demolish 10,000 shops? They could not keep their own script straight. On one hand, they denied what the eyes could plainly see; on the other, they threatened punishment for an alleged failure to open shops.”
Stressing that it is not afraid to confront any reality, the pro-Biafra group declared that truth will prevail over propaganda, and intimidation will never silence a united people.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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