Sit-at-home: Lawmakers call for arrest, repatriation of Simon Ekpa

Lawmakers in Nigeria’s Senate have condemned the Monday sit-in in the South East geopolitical zone, and discussed steps for the repatriation of Simon Ekpa to Nigeria.

Condemning the forceful sit-in imposed by the Indigenous People of Biafra’s factional leader Simon Ekpa on Wednesday, the lawmakers asked the Federal Government to work with the Finnish Government to extradite him for prosecution.

The upper chamber also decided to summon the Minister of Foreign Affairs (when named) and pertinent parties to conduct a thorough investigation and bring other act sponsors to justice.

Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Abia, and Ebonyi are the five South-East states where the unlawful sit-at-home order is allegedly being carried out by a faction of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

In order to increase pressure on the government to release IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, who is being held by the Department of State Services (DSS) and facing charges related to terrorism, the unconstitutional order was issued in 2021.

In July 2023, Peter Mbah, the governor of Enugu State, claimed that the Monday stay-at-home policy costs his state over N10 billion each week. Mbah began closing shops and other business premises that comply with the sit-at-home