Юрист подтвердил: в восточной Нигерии продолжается еженедельный бойкот понедельника в поддержку задержанного лидера IPOB

September 7, 2026 The lawyer said his observation was based on recent travels across the region over the past four Mondays and what he described as an informal “straw poll” conducted during the trips. The Monday sit-at-home order continues to be observed across parts of the Southeast, with rural communities reportedly recording stronger compliance despite efforts by governors and detained Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu to end the practice, his special counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, has said. Ejimakor made the claim in a post on his X handle on Monday, accompanied by photographs showing deserted streets which he said reflected the situation in parts of the Southeast. The lawyer said his observation was based on recent travels across the region over the past four Mondays and what he described as an informal “straw poll” conducted during the trips. “Based on my recent travels across the Southeast over the past four Mondays and an informal straw poll, one fact remains unmistakable: The ‘Monday Sit-At-Home’ still persists across virtually all Igbo land, albeit in varying degrees,” Ejimakor wrote. According to him, while some major urban centres are beginning to record limited commercial and human activity on Mondays, the practice remains significantly more pronounced in rural communities. “While urban centers show signs of minimal activity, the observance remains noticeably more prevalent among rural communities,” he said. Ejimakor noted that the continued observance had persisted despite previous efforts by governors in the five Southeast states and Kanu himself to bring the Monday shutdown to an end. The lawyer, who represents Kanu, said his inquiries suggested that the current observance was no longer being sustained through coercion or active enforcement. “Upon deeper inquiry, I discovered a crucial reality: The continued observance is now entirely voluntary,” he said. Ejimakor claimed that the practice was “not driven by any active enforcement, directives or even threats,” but had instead evolved into a form of protest connected to Kanu’s continued detention.  He said many residents now regard remaining indoors on Mondays as a symbolic expression of solidarity with the detained IPOB leader. “It is not driven by any active enforcement, directives or even threats, but by a shared sense of the manifest injustice that lies in the imprisonment of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu,” Ejimakor stated. “For many, staying home every Monday has become a symbolic, self-imposed protest tied directly to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s release, rather than any other underlying factor.” Ejimakor said the practice had consequently taken on a life of its own, becoming a weekly routine in communities across the Southeast irrespective of individual political or ideological positions. “So, it no longer matters whether one supports it or not,” he wrote. “It has become a routine that repeats itself every Monday across Southeast.” The statement comes amid years of disruption to economic and social activities in the Southeast arising from the Monday sit-at-home phenomenon. The shutdowns were initially linked to directives issued by IPOB during the agitation for Kanu’s release and the group’s campaign for self-determination for the Southeast. Although IPOB subsequently announced the cancellation of the sit-at-home and Kanu has also, on various occasions, called for an end to the practice, Monday shutdowns have continued in parts of the region. The practice has been particularly contentious because of its impact on businesses, schools, transportation, markets and other economic activities. Governments and security agencies in the Southeast have repeatedly condemned forced sit-at-home enforcement, while reports over the years have linked attempts to enforce the order to violence, attacks on businesses and confrontations between residents and armed enforcers. The persistence of the shutdown has remained a major concern for businesses and governments in the region, where traders, transport operators, artisans and other workers depend heavily on daily economic activity. A Monday shutdown effectively reduces the number of working days available to businesses and can affect the movement of people and goods between communities. For residents in rural areas, where access to healthcare, markets and transportation can already be more limited, prolonged disruptions can have additional consequences. Ejimakor, however, framed the continued observance primarily as a manifestation of public resistance against Kanu’s detention rather than the result of coercion.