The true price of separatist sit-at-home protests – DW – 06/04/2025 | EUROtoday

Monday mornings in Onitsha, one in all West Africa’s busiest business cities, was once essentially the most chaotic day of the week. But lately, they unfold in eerie silence.

The acquainted blare of merchants haggling costs has light — changed by an unsettling stillness as many residents of southeastern Nigeria dwell in worry.

The outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) motion — which is pushing for the independence of Nigeria’s southeast — frequently requires stay-at-home protests to demand the discharge of its chief, Nnamdi Kanu.

Kanu is on trial on terrorism fees within the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

While the IPOB claimed it had suspended the stay-at-home order, locals continued to conform because of the worry of armed teams recognized to assault those that defy the measure, utilizing enforcement ways like arson, looting and focused killings.

“Mondays now feel so empty,” mentioned Gift Chigo, a resident in Imo, one of many hardest-hit states within the area.

“Businesses are shut down and shops locked down. And to be honest, we don’t necessarily sit at home because we support the IPOB, but out of fear. It’s not about solidarity, it’s about [protecting] ourselves. What can we do? Nothing,” she instructed DW.

Nigeria labels IPOB a terrorist group

Formed in 2012 by two UK-based Nigerians, Nnamdi Kanu and Uche Mefor, the IPOB has been on the forefront of the renewed name for an unbiased state of Biafra.

Former Eastern area governor and navy officer, Emeka Ojukwu, had declared the defunct state of Biafra within the Nineteen Sixties following the killing of Igbos in northern Nigeria. However, that try to secede from the nation ended with a bloody three-year civil struggle that led to the demise of hundreds of thousands of individuals.

The agitations nonetheless stick with teams like IPOB. In 2020, the IPOB launched its armed wing known as the Eastern Security Network geared toward defending the Igbos, however residents instructed DW it has as a substitute inflicted extra struggling on them.

Since Kanu’s arrest, the group has break up into factions — a few of that are extra violent, exerting appreciable affect and energy, particularly in rural communities, and concentrating on authorities services.

Although IPOB has repeatedly dissociated itself from the area’s violence, authorities have continued to accuse the group of a number of violent incidents within the space. The Nigerian authorities has labelled the group a terrorist group.

The price of a sit-at-home order

Apart from the sit-at-home protest each Monday, the area additionally observes the order on days Kanu seems in courtroom. And, it has not solely upended livelihoods and disrupted the financial system of the area, nevertheless it has additionally led to the demise of greater than 700 individuals over the previous 4 years.

A current report by SBM intelligence, a Lagos-based assume tank, exhibits that the protest has resulted in financial losses of over $4.79 billion (€4.20 billion) with key sectors like transportation, commerce, and micro companies taking the most important hit.

In about 332 violent incidents, the protest’s epicenter has been Imo state, the place 332 individuals had been killed, adopted intently by neighboring Anambra with 202 deaths. Many of the victims had been civilians who defied the weekly order or grew to become caught up in clashes between the group and Nigerian safety forces.

Public establishments like faculties and hospitals have additionally been disrupted by the protest.

“I go to class three times a week even though I teach mathematics which was supposed to be taught every single day. We’re seriously lagging behind due to the IPOB’s order,” King David, a trainer in Owerri, instructed DW.

Schools undergo, financial system stalls

Dengiyefa Angalapu, a analysis analyst on the Centre for Democracy and Development, a assume tank, shared David’s concern. He famous that the academic sector has borne essentially the most profound brunt of the sit-ins within the area.

“Students preparing for exams often miss critical academic days or are even forced to travel under risky conditions,” mentioned Angalapu. “Beyond that, students missing out on school every Monday means they only have four days to learn, and I think that’s really a very critical gap compared to other regions in the country.”

While there was a excessive price of compliance with the order in 2021, representing about 83%, precise help is far decrease now — about 29%.

Nigeria’s southeast is inhabited predominantly by the Igbo ethnic group who’re recognized for his or her entrepreneurial expertise. The impression of the sit-ins has been substantial, and these losses aren’t simply contained within the southeast, mentioned Ikemesit Effiong, head of analysis on the Lagos-based assume tank.

“People from the Niger Delta and the South South region who are looking to transit through the South East to get to other parts of the country are also materially affected because their goods cannot move over land through the region.”

Effiong talked about that the loss in productiveness has weakened financial competitiveness and discouraged exterior investments.

“The economic loss in terms of reduced investability climate in the region is worrisome. Many projects that would have been greenlit have actually been held back or rerouted to other parts of the country because the cost of doing business has increased in the South East,” he mentioned.

What’s the way in which out?

Dengiyefa mentioned that, past financial loss, deepening unemployment and poverty, what lies forward is much more staggering.

“It’s quite sad that a generation of youth are being raised in the southeast in a climate of fear and ideological extremism,” Dengiyefa famous.

Dengiyefa added that “with the intergenerational transfer of trauma, we’re at a very big risk if this continues because we’ve a whole generation that has been radicalised and that’s a very fundamental challenge.”

Dengiyefa urged that the Nigerian authorities ought to spend money on countering secessionist narratives, together with partaking native leaders.

“We need a non-military security presence such as community policing rather than having solely the armed forces which often escalate tensions” that might ultimately result in a peaceable dialogue for any political calls for.

Both analysts argued that the heavy-handedness of Kanu’s prosecution might be softened by way of authorities transparency and honest judicial course of.

“People may not approve of Nnamdi Kanu’s tactics within the region, but his message still has deep resonance. Many people see his treatment as emblematic of how Nigeria has generally treated the Southeast. So, changing that paradigm and changing that perception will be critical,” Effiong added.

Edited by: Keith Walker