, led by fugitive Simon Ekpa.){kind=link}
Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, has stated on Monday that residents of Abia state cannot afford to stay at home for two weeks in compliance with the directive issued by a faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), led by fugitive Simon Ekpa.
He spoke in Abuja on the sideline of a security meeting convened by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, and attended by the governors of the South East states – Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo – to address the issue of insecurity in the region.
It was contained in a release forwarded to AFRIPOST on Monday night by the Governor’s chief press secretary, Mr Kazie Uko.
Governor Otti said only a handful of people was benefitting from the sit-at-home order, using the instrument of fear to intimidate the people and as such government cannot sit and watch them succeed.
His words: “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”.
According to the release, “apart from the Governor Alex Otti, the Executive Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma, attended in person; while the other governors were represented. Also, in attendance were the Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Christopher Musa, and other senior military and police officers.”