The entrance gate to the Inde-pendent National Electoral Commission (IÑEC) in Awka, cuts the picture of a war trench with heavily armed security operatives guarding the compound. The reason is clear following the attack on the com-pound by unknown gunmen which destroyed some facilities belonging to the commission.

Months after that incident, there is strong apprehension within the voting public that the election may not hold even when the commission and the Federal Government have assured all and sundry that there would be security of lives of the electorate.

Despite this assurance the Anambra electorate are still nursing the fears that the election may be truncated by the dreaded unknown gunmen should there be an election.

Shaking the table ahead of the election is the threat by the Indigenous People Of Biafran (IPOB) which warned that it would embark on a sit-at-home strike if its leader, Mazi Nnamd Kanu, is not released unconditionally on the forth of November two days to the conduct of the election.

In a press statement signed by Emma Powerful, the group said “following the adjournment of the case of our great leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to No-vember 10, 2021, by the Federal High Court Abuja, we, the great movement and family of the IPOB, wish to inform Biafrans, friends of Biafra and lovers of freedom that IPOB will lock down Bi-afra land from November 5-to 10, except Sunday, November 7, a day our people worship the Almighty God, Chukwu Okike Abiama, if the Nigerian govern-ment fails to release our leader uncondi-tionally before November 4, 2021.

“Our leader, Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, must be released uncondition-ally on or before November 4, 2021 be-cause he has not committed any offense known to any law. Failure to release our leader, Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, on or before November 4, 2021, our one week sit-at-home strike begins on No-vember 5, 2021 till November 10,” it said.

The group said that although it quite understood the pains and adverse ef-fects of this option on the South-East people, it was compelled to take it to achieve a better purpose in the collec-tive interest of Biafrans.

“We have taken time to analyse what transpired on October 21 when our Leader was arraigned in court and dis-covered that the Federal Government is not sincere and only wants to humiliate him and keep him perpetually in DSS custody to rot there.

“We all saw how lawyers, journalists, Igbo delegates and respected traditional rulers and other people who came from all around the world to witness his court case were restricted and denied access into the court premises by security agents who kept them outside under the scorching heat of the sun. What a humiliation and wickedness!

“We cannot accept that anymore. We can never allow our leader Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to be tried secretly and we can never also allow him to be tried under Sharia law under any guise. Nigeria must follow international laws in handling our leader.

“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is in the DSS dungeon today because of his passion for Biafra independence, and we must sacrifice all we can to ensure that he re-gains his freedom. He has sacrificed so much for us all, so we must be prepared to sacrifice little for him,” the statement said.

It further warned that unless the Fed-eral Government releases him uncondi-tionally before November 4, the group shall sacrifice one week for him as a warning protest to convey to “our op-pressors that Nnamdi Kanu represents over 70 million Biafrans. He is innocent of all the charges preferred against him. As long as he is in detention our indi-vidual businesses do not matter so much because he is suffering for us all and we can’t abandon him.”

The group expressed “seriously regret over the inconveniences this may cause their people but described the action as “a necessary sacrifice” it needs to make until they have their full independence, warning that nobody resident in Biafra land is expected to flout this directive as doing so amounts to challenging the will of the people on the Biafra project.

“This one week sit-at-home strike is also to let our oppressors understand that we are not going to tolerate any plan to torment or abandon our leader in DSS custody through frivolous court adjournments. Any plans to subject him to trauma in detention through long adjournments while real terrorists and mass murderers are having fun across the country cannot fly.

(Courtesy Sunday Telegraph)