After being forced to comply with a sit-at-home order by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Enugu residents can now heave a sigh of relief.

IPOB, an outlawed separatist group seeking to secede from Nigeria, brought economic life to a standstill every Monday, turning cities into ghost towns. Despite government opposition and security warnings, fear of violence kept residents indoors.

The separatist group said the sit-at-home was to force the Nigerian government to free its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who has been facing treason and terrorism charges since 2021.

Officials said the separatist clampdown on businesses caused the region huge financial losses.

Economic activities, once booming every Monday, began to peter out, and businesses incurred losses, suffering immensely. This was achieved by harassment, intimidation, destruction of public and private facilities, and killing of residents who dared to oppose the order.

Nigerian forces have since arrested members of IPOB’s militia group known as the Eastern Security Network whom the government blamed for the killings in states across Nigeria’s Southeast region.

Security analysts praised the Nigerian government when the Finish Police arrested an IPOB chief, Simon Ekpa, who assumed factional leadership of the separatist group in Kanu’s absence.

Since his detention, normalcy is gradually returning to the streets of Enugu, the capital of Enugu State. The Monday curfew imposed on the city by the outlawed group is gradually fading away.

“The sit-at-home on Mondays is gradually diminishing,” Nigeria’s defence chief, Christopher Musa, said in January.

“We’re also working with the political leaders there because we understand, like I always say, that we need local support because without it, it’s difficult.”

An estate agent in Enugu, Terry, said attacks on businesses had planted seeds of fear in people’s minds until some southeastern governors put their foot down to ensure peace returned to the region.

“Money was lost,” he told The Guardian. “Southeast was losing money. As you can see, life has now come back to normal,” said Terry.

Our correspondent observed that although vehicles were visible on the streets and some people were returning to their businesses, many shops remained shut.

Terry said that some residents now use Mondays as additional rest days.

“Some traders told me that they use Mondays to rest because they attend meetings on Sundays,” Terry said. “People are just relaxed. They now use Mondays to rest. There is relative peace at the moment.”

‘Tired of sitting at home’

Alex Okorie, a civil servant in the state, said residents now defy the Monday sit-at-home order because they are tired of sitting at home.

Okorie said people relied on the daily proceeds of their businesses to feed their families. He noted that observing the sit-at-home meant there was often not enough money earned to feed their families on Mondays, especially if they could only open their shops late in the day.

“It is what you earn that you will feed your family with. If you skip Mondays, what will the family eat at the end of the day?,” he questioned.

“People thought about this and decided they were tired of the trend. People are tired of sitting at home,” Okorie told The Guardian. “They were scared to come out because there were no security measures in place to protect them. They were threatened that they would be killed if they came out. If you stay home, hunger will kill you. so they decided that they would rather come out to work.”

According to Okorie, the government’s introduction of a ‘no-work, no-pay’ policy also contributed to the gradual return of normalcy in the region.

Enugu State governor, Peter Mbah, said in January that the residents no longer obey the separatist group’s sit-at-home order.

“We no longer observe sit-at-home in Enugu,” Mbah said. “Our people go to work every day of the week, and we no longer take orders from non-state actors.” (The Guardian)