Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, on Saturday evening, threatened to seize any shop locked by its owner as a result of the sit-at-home order issued by the Indigenous People of Biafra.
This is as Umahi urged residents of the state to ignore the sit-at-home order by the proscribed group and go about their lawful businesses.
The governor issued the warning during a live broadcast to mark his six years in office at Executive Chamber of the Old Government House, Abakaliki, adding that the directive emanating from IPOB was “an act of foolishness”.
He warned that any trader that refused to open his or her store on Monday would forfeit it, insisting that nobody could stop both vehicular and human movement in Ebonyi State.
Umahi said, “On Monday, markets must be fully operational. Anybody that the store is not opened, will forfeit the store. I ask the security agencies to massively deploy security people to protect Ebonyians everywhere.
“This no movement order is foolishness. We will not go into any form of slavery. There will be free movement throughout today, tomorrow, and ongoing.
“I challenged the youths, the local government Chairmen and the politicians, the stakeholders, the security agencies to ensure that nobody is molested and I have banned any form of procession or gathering till further notice in Ebonyi State.
“You should not be outside the country and be vomiting rubbish. Freedom fighters should come down to South-East, let’s discuss.”
The governor equally warned South-East youths not to be used as instruments of crisis in the state.
“They should not be used to confront security agencies. Agitation doesn’t mean killing security agencies,” he added.
