IPOB denies plans to resume Monday sit-at-home enforcement

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), under the supreme leadership of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has rejected the allegations contained in a purported police intelligence report dated 9 October 2026, which claims that IPOB and the Eastern Security Network (ESN) intend to resume enforcement of the Monday sit-at-home order from 12 October 2026.

In a statement issued on Monday in Owerri through its spokesperson and Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, the group accused the Nigeria Police Force of working in concert with what it described as unscrupulous politicians and former members of the disbanded third administration of the Directorate of State to recycle what it called a familiar propaganda narrative.

IPOB said the purported intelligence report dated 9 October 2026, bearing the reference number CB:4089/FID/INTLAB/FHQ/ABJ/VOL.14/231 and signed in the name of the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Force Intelligence Department, was a fabrication.

It said the report was intended to distract public attention from what it described as the clear position of its leader, Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, delivered at the AVID Convention: that there would be no referendum, no dialogue and that IPOB would boycott the forthcoming elections.

“There is no voice note. There is no order from IPOB or ESN to resume any sit-at-home,” the group said.

IPOB stated that it had no plan to enforce any directive on the people of the South-East or Imo State, adding that it had repeatedly made its position clear.

According to the group, it had no business with enforcement, insisting that its struggle was political and lawful and directed solely towards achieving Biafran self-determination through peaceful means.

“What the public is witnessing is the familiar pattern,” it said.

The group identified the alleged pattern as the withdrawal or deliberate redeployment of security personnel, the fabrication of a “threat” document and the circulation of an anonymous voice note attributed to “unidentified individuals”.

The spokesperson alleged that the stage was being set for another wave of insecurity, which the same security agencies and their political sponsors would later attempt to blame on IPOB.

IPOB said it had already raised the alarm that the recent withdrawal of security personnel was a deliberate prelude to another round of chaos in the region, adding that the appearance of what it described as a forged intelligence report supported its assessment.

The group called on the APC-led administration and its alleged collaborators in Imo State to stop spending scarce public resources on what it described as propaganda and false-flag operations.

It said they should instead address the suffering of the masses, including hunger, unemployment, insecurity and the continued detention of Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, which it described as illegal.

The group questioned the authenticity, provenance and evidential basis of the report, citing the reference number CB:4089/FID/INTLAB/FHQ/ABJ/VOL.14/231.

It challenged the Nigeria Police Force to produce verifiable evidence supporting its allegations, including the original recording, its source, the identity of the speaker, where ascertainable, and the basis for attributing the alleged message to IPOB or ESN.

“The people of Biafra are not fools. They know this script by heart. They will not be deceived,” it said.

IPOB insisted that it remained committed to its stated course of action: a total boycott of the elections. It added that no fabricated documents, voice notes or media theatrics would alter that decision.

“The Nigerian state and its agents can continue their lies. History, and the people, will judge,” it said.