According to the group, markets were shut, streets were deserted, and normal activities were grounded across what it described as Biafraland.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has rejected reports suggesting that markets in Onitsha and other parts of the South-East were open during Monday’s sit-at-home, describing such claims as “lies, propaganda, and the failure of deception.”
In a press statement signed by its spokesperson and Media/Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, IPOB insisted there was “total compliance” with the sit-at-home order issued in solidarity with traders of the Onitsha Main Market and other markets across the region.
According to the group, markets were shut, streets were deserted, and normal activities were grounded across what it described as Biafraland.
IPOB claimed that the lockdown extended to Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s local government area, Aguata, adding that Government House in Awka, schools, banks, and government parastatals were all closed.
“The markets were shut. The streets were empty. This reality was visible across Biafraland and beyond,” the statement said.
IPOB alleged that despite what it described as overwhelming compliance, attempts were made to “manufacture a false narrative” by assembling “a few rented security men and a handful of APGA party chairmen” to pose for international media under locked shops.
“This was not reporting; it was blatant deception,” the group said.
The organisation further accused certain media platforms of reversing earlier reports that showed deserted markets and later claiming that shops were open.
“In Nigeria today, lies are elevated to truth, while truth is deliberately suppressed,” the statement added.
IPOB also questioned the Anambra State Government’s response to the situation, pointing to reported threats by Governor Soludo to demolish thousands of shops. The group argued that such threats contradicted claims that markets were open.
“If, as falsely claimed, the markets were opened, why did Governor Soludo threaten to demolish 10,000 shops?” IPOB asked, adding that the alleged contradiction “betrayed their falsehood.”
Warning against what it described as intimidation of traders, IPOB said allowing such actions would set a “dangerous precedent” and could embolden similar actions against Igbo businesses outside the South-East.
The group stressed that its detained leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, had ended enforced sit-at-home orders years ago, insisting that the current position was about “dignity, solidarity, and the right of our people to resist intimidation,” not coercion.
“The message from the people of Biafra is clear and unmistakable: intimidation has lost its power. Unity defeated propaganda,” the statement said.
IPOB vowed to continue what it called its commitment to truth, declaring that “truth will prevail over propaganda” and that “intimidation will never silence a united people.”