Report: Nnamdi Kanu’s Abia State Least Affected by IPOB Activities in South-east

•Ebonyi most impacted

•Fear driving compliance, says research group

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Abia State has emerged the least impacted by the sit-at-home order by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), despite the fact that its founder, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, hails from the state, a new report by the SB Morgen (SBM) Intelligence has shown.

SBM, a leading geopolitical research firm in Nigeria carrying out political, economic and social analyses in the country and West Africa, noted that the survey was held across the five states in the region to ascertain the level of compliance to the order declared by the separatist group.

The survey titled, “Perception and Impact of IPOB-ordered Sit-at-Home,” showed that 34 per cent of men supported the sit-at-home as opposed to 24 per cent of women, while persons between the ages of 18-30 years comprised 37 per cent of those that supported the directive.

Of the five states in the South-east, the sit-at-home order was most effective in Ebonyi State with 98.07 per cent of the respondents affirming that it was observed, followed by 97.17 per cent in Imo State, 96.30 per cent in Enugu State, and 83.78 per cent in Anambra State.

IPOB recently deployed the strategy as a form of protest, especially against the arrest and detention of its leader, Kanu, following his forced return to Nigeria in an operation carried out by the federal government.

Since then, vehicles have been burnt and as many as four persons were killed in Imo State, while four others were slain in Anambra State, although the group had announced the suspension of the weekly exercise.

On September 6, a truck carrying mattresses from Onitsha in Anambra State to Orlu in Imo State was stopped and set ablaze at Kootu Road, near Orlu, while a trailer loaded with motorcycle spare parts was burnt at Eluagu Obukpa, in Nsukka council of Enugu State.

On the same day in Eke Okposi, Onicha council of Ebonyi State, a businessman and some of his apprentices were killed by alleged IPOB enforcers.

However, SBM emphasised that the compliance might be driven by fear of the repercussions of disobeying the order as alleged by an increasing number of voices from the region.

Furthermore, persons between 31 and 40 years constituted 52 per cent of those who backed the group, 41-50 years made up 49 per cent, and 57 per cent of those who supported the action were above 50 years.

The report showed that transporters were most negatively impacted with 73.3 per cent, those in the hospitality industry had 71.4 per cent, self-employed persons 73.9 per cent, artisans 62.1 per cent, blue-collar formal sector workers 64.5 per cent, students 47.6 per cent, and white-collar formal sector workers 49.53 per cent.

It also revealed that equal impact was felt by both male and female respondents to the sit-at-home order with 83.7 per cent of women and 81.7 per cent of men attesting to the sit-at-home order being observed in their locality.

About 60 per cent of female respondents indicated that the sit-at-home order affected their productivity compared to 67.9 per cent of men, while 12.9 per cent of women said their productivity was not affected by the sit-at-home order compared to 9.42 per cent of men.

Out of the respondents that expressed support for the protest, the SBM report noted that only 19.7 per cent of women and 23.34 per cent of men indicated support for future sit-at-home protests, while 19.42 per cent of women and 17.51 per cent of men said they will offer no support to future protests.

It stated that the strongest sign of resistance to future protests among those who never supported it in the first place was among persons 18-30 with 25.65 per cent with least share of support among young people between 18-30 years with only 23.1 per cent expressing support for it.

“This is contrary to the general perception which had indicated that IPOB’s strongest support comes from young people who do not have the lived experience of the Nigerian civil war and the years succeeding it,” the report said.

SBM concluded that the relative lack of support for the sit-at-home protests in Abia State, which is IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu’s home state, may be related to the impact of the three military exercises in the region since 2016 tagged ‘Operation Python Dance I, II and III.

The report said, “Operation Python Dance I was carried out mostly in Abia State in a bid to arrest Nnamdi Kanu. There were numerous reports of clashes between the military and IPOB, as well as the military’s invasion of Mr Kanu’s home to arrest him.

“The effectiveness of the sit-at-home order in the various states might be as a result of the use of force by IPOB in enforcing it, particularly in Imo State which saw an increase in violence in the months leading up to the sit-at-home order.”

In Abia and Imo, according to the research group, respondents said they were in support of the sit-at-home order when it was initially announced, but explained that the manner of enforcement, the use of force, left a lot to be desired.

In Abia, the research group observed that the people across the board who it interviewed, expressed minimal support purely for economic reasons since such orders are bad for businesses, especially as the sit-at-home is scheduled on the first workday of the week.