The Abia State Governor, Alex Otti has declared sit-at-home ordered by the self-style agitator Simon Ekpa null and void, noting that residents of the State cannot afford to stay at home for two weeks when they have works to do.
Otti declared this on Monday in Abuja, the Federal capital, on the sideline of a security meeting convened by the National Security Adviser, NSA, Nuhu Ribadu to address issues of insecurity in the South-East, which was attended by the Governors of the region.
The Governor disclosed that only few people were benefitting from the sit-at-home order, using the instrument of fear to intimidate the people and as such, the government cannot sit and watch them succeed.
The Simon Ekpa’s faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra, had ordered sit-at-home in the south east.
In his reaction, Governor Otti said, “Governments all over the world cannot be threatened and we need to sound that note of warning.
“You cannot afford to sit at home when you have work to do. A lot of people live on a daily basis; the taxi drivers, the keke drivers, the woman that is selling pepper in the market, if she sits at home for two weeks, she will die of hunger.
“So, it (the order) is null and void,” Otti told journalists after the security meeting.
At the meeting, Otti and his Imo State counterpart, Hope Uzodinma were present, while the Governors of Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi sent their representatives.
Chief of Defense Staff, Major General Christopher Musa also attended the security meeting.
