Mbah, who declared the sit-at-home illegal, insisted that the protest is ruining the state economy and will prevent investors from coming to the state to invest.
There was confusion and a rowdy scene at the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital, ESUT-Parklane as workers crowded the office of the Chief Medical Director, Prof. Hypcinth Onah to sign an employee attendance log to prove they were at work on Monday (today).
SaharaReporters gathered that the development was introduced after a meeting of various heads of government agencies and parastatals with the Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah as a measure to compel workers to come to work and break the yoke of Monday's sit-at-home in the state.
Although, Governor Mbah had banned sit-at-home exercise which was started by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as a form of protest against the incarceration of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu at the detention facility of the Department of State Services (DSS) since September 2021.
However, IPOB has since announced the cancellation of the sit-at-home. Meanwhile, a group loyal to Finland-based self-proclaimed disciple of Kanu, Simon Ekpa, has been enforcing the protest in some parts of southeast Nigeria.
Mbah, who declared the sit-at-home illegal, insisted that the protest is ruining the state economy and will prevent investors from coming to the state to invest.
Despite the state ban, residents have substantially complied with the sit-at-home on Mondays and other days chosen by Ekpa to force the Nigerian Government to release Kanu.
In other to break the hold the agitators for the sit-at-home exercise have had on the state economy, the governor has reportedly directed all government establishments to keep attendance logs for workers on Mondays and start surcharging employees who fail to come to work on such days.
Sequel to the directive, some workers of ESUT-Parklane told SaharaReporters that they (workers) were told to come to work on Mondays and sign the employee attendance log domiciled in the office of the CMD.
"Anyone who comes to work after 8:30 am when the register is billed to close will be regarded as not at work that day. And those who don’t come to work on Mondays will henceforth be surcharged 25 per cent of their salary," one of the staff members said.
Meanwhile, SaharaReporters observed that some workers of the hospital living afar have started sleeping at the health facility on Sundays knowing they might have some form of difficulty getting to work on Mondays.
"I had to come to the hospital yesterday (Sunday) to sleep over to comply with the new order because I would not be able to meet up if I try to come on Mondays.
“I live at Garrik on Agbani Road, and the government doesn't provide vehicles on Monday for workers and individual transport owners don't bring out their vehicles very early in the morning for fear of being attacked," one of the workers told SaharaReporters.