The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has insisted that the Monday sit-at-home observed across Anambra State is a legal, peaceful civil protest and not a criminal act, following the state government’s announcement of pro-rata salary payments for civil servants who fail to report for work.
In a statement issued on Sunday, IPOB’s spokesman, Emma Powerful, described the weekly shutdown as a symbolic act of solidarity with the group’s leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who remains in detention.
“Let it be stated clearly and without ambiguity: Anambra is not a military barracks. The people are not tenants in their own land. No governor has the lawful power to compel free citizens to open their businesses or move about against their will, especially when their action is a peaceful, non-violent expression of conscience,” the statement said.
Powerful argued that treating the sit-at-home as misconduct constitutes a “declaration of war on the people’s dignity.” He added, “The frustration in Igboland is deep. The anger is justified. The pain is historic.
And the Monday sit-at-home is a token expression of that collective burden. But instead of confronting the injustice that fuels agitation, the governor has chosen the weak and disgraceful route of harassing his own people — to be seen as ‘loyal’ by Abuja power brokers who have shown nothing but contempt for Igbo lives and Igbo dignity.”
The group further warned that any enforcement measures, including task forces or vigilante-style units to compel citizens to work on Mondays, would cross a “red line.”
“We do not force people to sit at home. But no government will force them to go out. The sit-at-home is voluntary. It is a choice. It is a personal and collective statement of solidarity,” Powerful said.
The comments followed the Anambra State Government’s announcement that, effective February 2026, salaries of civil servants would be paid on a pro-rata basis in response to the ongoing sit-at-home directive.
The state Commissioner for Information, Law Mefor, said the decision was taken during an end-of-tenure retreat of the Anambra State Executive Council and explained that salaries would be calculated based on a 24-working-day month.
“The retreat acknowledged that even though these factors existed in the past, they no longer exist, making them invalid reasons for absenteeism from work. The workers were simply enjoying the sit-at-home because they knew that whether they came to work or not, they would be paid salaries,” Mefor said.
He noted that persistent absence on Mondays under normal circumstances could lead to dismissal under civil service law, but the government had opted for a pro-rata approach.
Mefor stressed that absenteeism on Mondays disrupts government operations and revenue collection.
“Any day civil servants fail to come to work, it means that the state government’s business will stagnate and, by implication, the economy of the state will stagnate. Income accruable to the government will be lost, and there’s no guarantee that such losses can be recovered,” he said.
The commissioner added that the pro-rata measure is intended to ensure fairness and efficiency while signalling that the government will not yield to the sit-at-home directive.
He also said negotiations with market leaders are ongoing to encourage traders to resume activities on Mondays, alongside enhanced security measures to provide assurance to businesses.
“Do we now say we give up Monday and take Saturday as a working day? That will not work. It will mean that Anambra State has yielded to whoever introduced this sit-at-home, and again, we will be the only state working on Saturdays in Nigeria, and that will be absurd,” Mefor said.
IPOB, however, maintained that the sit-at-home remains a voluntary act of civil disobedience, grounded in conscience and historical grievances, and called on the governor to reconsider threats of sanctions against residents observing it.
