IPOB Reacts, Insists Sit-at-Home Is Lawful Protest
The Anambra State Government has announced that it will begin deducting the salaries of civil servants who fail to report for work on Mondays in observance of the sit-at-home order associated with the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The Commissioner for Information, Dr Law Mefor, disclosed the policy decision on Saturday, while briefing journalists in Awka after a State Executive Council (SEC) retreat held on Friday.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mefor said the move was aimed at addressing persistent absenteeism among public servants, particularly on Mondays, despite what the government described as improvements in the state’s security situation.
He said many civil servants had continued to stay away from work at the start of the week for more than four years, noting that the trend had negatively affected productivity and revenue generation across the state.
“Some workers have taken advantage of the situation, knowing they would receive full salaries regardless of attendance,” Mefor said. “Although this amounts to absenteeism punishable under the civil service rules, the government opted for pro-rata salary payment.”
He explained that under the new arrangement, civil servants who fail to report for duty on Mondays would forfeit their pay for that day, adding that the measure was less severe than the disciplinary sanctions provided for under the civil service rules.
To ensure compliance, the Commissioner said the government had introduced attendance registers, which would require workers to clock in at resumption and clock out at the close of work every Monday.
Mefor said the continued absence of workers had stalled government activities and contributed to economic losses in the state.
“Every workday lost translates to stalled government business and loss of revenue,” he said.
He added that revenue-generating agencies such as the Anambra Internal Revenue Service, as well as various ministries, departments and parastatals, had been badly affected by Monday absenteeism.
The Commissioner also ruled out the possibility of shifting official workdays to Saturdays, describing such a move as impractical and tantamount to accepting the sit-at-home order.
He said the government could not continue to encourage markets and the informal sector to operate on Mondays while its own workforce stayed away from duty.
The state government further disclosed that the pro-rata salary payment policy would take effect from February 2026, applying to civil servants across the state.
Reacting to the development, IPOB insisted that the Monday sit-at-home was not a crime but a lawful and peaceful civil protest in solidarity with its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
In a statement issued on Sunday by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, the group condemned the Anambra State Government’s decision, describing it as an attempt to criminalise peaceful protest.
“The attention of the IPOB and all lovers of justice has been drawn to the reported threat by Governor Chukwuma Soludo to penalise and intimidate citizens who choose to remain indoors on Mondays as a symbolic act of solidarity with our leader, Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who is being unlawfully detained by enemies of the Igbo race and the Biafra restoration project which he leads,” the statement read.
“Let it be stated clearly and without ambiguity: Anambra is not a military barracks. The people are not tenants in their own land. No governor has the lawful power to compel free citizens to open their businesses or move about against their will, especially when their action is a peaceful, non-violent expression of conscience.”
IPOB maintained that the sit-at-home remained voluntary and symbolic.
“Monday sit-at-home is civil disobedience, not terrorism. If businessmen, traders, students, professionals, elders and youths voluntarily choose to sit at home on Mondays as a silent protest against the continued detention and persecution of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, that is their right. It is not a crime. It is not rebellion. It is not an offence,” Powerful stated.
The group warned that turning peaceful protest into punishable misconduct amounted to an attack on the dignity of the people. “The frustration in Igboland is deep. The anger is justified. The pain is historic. And the Monday sit-at-home is a token expression of that collective burden,” IPOB said.
It further accused the Governor of harassing citizens rather than addressing the grievances that fuel the region’s agitation.
IPOB also cautioned the state government against establishing enforcement squads or task forces to compel residents to reopen their businesses.
“We do not force people to sit at home. But no government will force them to go out. The sit-at-home is voluntary. It is a choice,” the statement added. “The solution is not threats. The solution is justice. The solution is the release of Mazi Kanu, who is the symbol of our freedom and hope.”
The group urged Governor Soludo to stop what it described as threats against the people of Anambra and the wider Igbo community.
“Let him not start what he cannot finish, because history has never been kind to leaders who attack their own people to impress external masters,” the statement concluded.
The Monday sit-at-home in the South-East began as a protest linked to the detention of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, and has continued intermittently despite repeated calls by state governments for residents to resume normal activities.
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