Nnamdi Kanu declares ‘total cancellation’ of sit at home in south east

The outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB says its convicted leader, Nnamdi Kanu, has directed “total cancellation” of sit-at-home across Nigeria’s South-east.

IPOB spokesperson, Emma Powerful, disclosed this in a statement forwarded to newsmen on Sunday.

Mr Powerful said Mr Kanu announced that the illegal directive has been “officially and permanently cancelled” with effect from tomorrow, Monday, 9 February 2026.

“This directive comes directly from Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu himself, who has once again staked everything on the line to ensure that our children return to school every Monday and that our people go about their lawful businesses without fear, intimidation, or molestation,” he said.

The IPOB spokesperson said those in doubt that Mr Kanu, by himself, terminated the infamous Monday sit-at-home in the region should visit him at the Sokoto prison facility for confirmation.

“There is now no need, excuse, or justification for anyone to stay at home on Mondays.

“All markets, schools, offices, transport services, and economic activities must resume fully and normally. From tomorrow, the Monday sit-at-home is over,” he said.

Mr Powerful stressed that Mr Kanu has made it clear that anyone or group attempting to enforce the sit-at-home in the South-east henceforth is acting against his directive.

“Such persons are enemies of our people and the Biafran cause. They will be pursued to the ends of the earth and confronted until they are completely defeated,” he stated.

“We therefore call on all our people across the South-east to come out tomorrow, open their shops, go to work, and send their children to school without fear.”

‘Don’t threaten, demolish shops of willful observers’

Mr Powerful recalled the recent closure of the Onitsha Main Market by Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State due to traders’ noncompliance with the sit-at-home directive.

The spokesperson argued that IPOB has insisted that no governor has “the right to threaten, demolish or forcibly shut down businesses of traders who, out of conscience, choose to sit at home in solidarity with Mr Kanu.

“Any attempt by Governor Soludo or any other governor to intimidate our people with demolition threats or forced market closures will be firmly resisted,” he said.

Apparently reacting to Mr Soludo’s plan to renovate the Onitsha Main Market, Mr Powerful said any renovation, reconstruction, or improvement of markets that involves temporary relocation must be carried out only with the consent of all stakeholders.

“Adequate temporary trading sites must be provided before any such projects commence,” he said.

The announcement by IPOB came exactly a day after the Simon Ekpa-led pro-Biafra group, Biafra Liberation Army, also declared an end to the illegal sit-at-home directive in the South-east.

In a video clip, a notorious terror kingpin simply identified as Angel De Makeup was heard announcing the end of the sit-at-home directive.

The terror kingpin, a member of the self-acclaimed pro-Biafra group which is linked to terror attacks in the region, said the permanent cancellation of the illegal directive followed a directive instruction from Mr Kanu, whom he described as “our supreme leader.”

“As the information reaching my table, (I am directed) to inform all Biafrans of an order from the highest command of the Biafra Restoration Movement, Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi has reached us that Monday sit-at-home is cancelled from today,” he read out from a written note.

He was flanked by heavily armed men wearing security uniforms and standing in a forest with an IPOB flag, which had Mr Kanu’s photograph on it.

The terror kingpin suggested that with the latest directive from Mr Kanu, observance of the sit-at-home would now be voluntary.

“It will not be enforced henceforth,” he said.