BREAKING NEWS: Schools, markets open as IPOB ends Monday sit-at-home

Breaking news 

Schools, markets open as IPOB ends Monday sit-at-home

The Indigenous People of Biafra has announced the permanent cancellation of the Monday sit-at-home across the South-East, following a directive from its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, with effect from February 9, 2026.

The announcement was made by the group’s spokesman, Emma Powerful, in a statement issued on Sunday, which said the order came directly from Kanu.

The pro-Biafran group had declared the weekly sit-at-home in August 2021 to protest Kanu’s rendition to Nigeria and subsequent incarceration, a move that often resulted in the shutdown of markets, schools, banks and offices.

Powerful said the new directive left “no need, excuse, or justification” for residents to remain indoors on Mondays, stressing that economic and social activities must resume fully.

four‑year period, with Imo and Anambra states bearing the highest toll.

In addition to fatalities, the crisis crippled economic activity, with losses estimated at about N7.6tn due to repeated market closures and disruptions to transport and trade.

Last week, Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, ordered the forced reopening of the Onitsha Main Market on Monday, in a move defying the sit-at-home directive issued by IPOB.

During an earlier visit on Monday, January 26, 2025, the governor had ordered the market to be shut after traders failed to open that day.

Following a one-week closure, the market was reopened on Monday, February 2, with many traders operating for the first time since 2021, when the enforcement of the sit-at-home order began.

Addressing the visibly elated traders, Soludo declared an end to Monday sit-at-home directives and warned that any trader complying with IPOB’s order would risk forfeiting their business premises.

He added that those who refused to open their shops would face the loss of their businesses.