On Saturday, Enugu youths took to the streets in a peaceful protest to express their support for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), in his call to end the unlawful sit-at-home actions in the South-East region.

The young protesters, numbering in significant amounts, marched along major roads and streets within the Enugu metropolis. They held placards with different inscriptions, some of which read: “Even Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is Against Sit-at-Home” and “Sit-at-Home Discourages Economic Progress.”

Others are: “We say NO to Enemies of our Dear State and region”; “Sit-at-Home Affects our Mental Health”; Sit-at-home is Affecting our Children Education” and “We Cannot Continue this Way” among others. 

Comrade Edeani Maduabuchi Edeani, the leader of Enugu Innovative Youths, spoke out, stating that those advocating for illegal sit-at-home actions in any form should cease doing so.

He emphasized that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB, was against sit-at-home and had publicly called for its discontinuation. Edeani expressed concern that the unlawful sit-at-home had caused immense hardship and poverty in Enugu State and the wider South-East region.

According to him, “the illegal sit-at-home is causing so much havoc and making our education, health and economic institutions not to function optimally and our people are counting their losses both as individuals, groups and corporate entities.

“We as youths in Enugu State are supporting Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in his stance to stop and totally cancel the illegal sit-at-home being engineered by a misguided Nigerian in Finland. 

“We are here to let the world know that anybody supporting the illegal sit-at-home is against the South-East, good people of Enugu State and the future of youths in the state and South-East in general.

“I call on all youths in Enugu State and South-East to desist from supporting the anti-progressive, evil and illegal sit-at-home.”

“It remains a wrong path and it will not do anybody any good rather it will truncate our future and prospects in life as youths,” he added. 

Edeani further urged the Federal Government to comply with the court order and release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. He emphasized that such an action would contribute to revitalizing the South-East region and put an end to the manipulation by a few troublemakers.

Contributing, Mr Ebube Nebo, a youth leader in Enugu State, said that the youths in Enugu State were tired of sit-at-home, adding: “Sit-at-home is a canker-worm gradually snowballing into a big monster of human and economic waste”.

“In all sincerity, we are suffering. It is not just about what the Enugu State Governor is saying to end it, we are indeed suffering and feeling the pains of our deprivation and loss the illegal sit-at-home is causing us.”

“As youths, it is affecting our education, employment, and entrepreneurial prospects, while our fathers and mothers, especially those in the villages and suburbs, are living in untold hardship” Nebo said. 

Nebo restated the dissatisfaction of the South-East regarding the ongoing detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and demanded his release.

Furthermore, they called on the Federal Government to reassess its relations with the Government of Finland due to the country’s reluctance to control Simon Ekpa.