Sit-At-Home: Terrorists Brutalise Primary School Pupils, Others In Enugu

If she was not billed to invigilate the Common Entrance Examination billed for Wednesday, June 6, Chinwe Nduka* would have stayed back home to respect the sit-at-home curfew imposed by a faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra, in Enugu southeast Nigeria. 

Two hours after arriving at the school where she works, a group of terrorists arrived to enforce the controversial one-week curfew declared by Simon Ekpa over the continued detention of the leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.

“I was beaten like a baby and almost all the pupils writing the common entrance examination were flogged mercilessly. I am currently receiving treatment at home,” she told our reporter.

Ekpa had since last weekend declared Monday as total lockdown, Tuesday as no movement, Wednesday for sit-at-home, Thursday for the opening of markets, Friday as don’t come outside day, Saturday as ghost town day, and Sunday as stay indoors day.

Following the curfew declaration, the Enugu State Government, on July 3, ordered all public servants and political office holders in the state to report to their places of work or face sanctions.

“To further reinforce the governor’s directive, all public/civil servants in the state are hereby directed to ensure that they report to their duty posts every work day, including Mondays, as the government has put all necessary security measures in place to ensure their safety,” he said in the circular,” a statement by Ken Ugwu, the state’s head of service read. 

Brutality 

Chinwe told our reporter that different schools in her area were attacked by the terrorists who subjected underage children to inhumane treatment.  

HumAngle also obtained a video clip online showing a group of terrorists flogging primary school pupils, along with their teachers. 

The children were terrified as they pleaded for mercy. Some teachers were also seen lying down while the terrorists queried them for disobeying the sit-at-home directive.

One of the terrorists was heard in the video saying: “This is happening live in one of the primary schools in Enugu West senatorial district in the state. I want everybody to obey the rules of Biafra.”

“If they flog you today, you people will know that you don’t need to come out any day we have sit-at-home. You should not ever again violate the rules of the government of Biafra.

“Any day they ask you to come out on the day of sit-at-home, tell them you won’t go to school because they have sit-at-home. That’s why we are supposed to give you a little punishment,” he said as they continued to brutalise the pupils and their teachers. 

HumAngle also gathered that there was pandemonium at major areas of the state capital, as terrorists enforcing lockdown were seen shooting sporadically, forcing many residents to scamper for safety.

The affected places included Artisan, Emene, New Haven, Abakpa, Agbani Road, and the Nowas area, in Transekulu and Maryland.

Also, banks, schools, and markets, which initially opened for business, were forced to close. 

“I rushed to school to pick up my children when I heard that they were already flogging students and teachers in some places. There’s no way I will even listen to the state government. They promised adequate security but we saw nothing,” a resident who pleaded anonymity because of fear of attacks said. 

Reacting to the development, the commissioner of police in Enugu,  Ahmed Ammani, promised to deal decisively with all criminals enforcing sit-at-home. 

Gov’t reacts 

Meanwhile, the government in a statement by the secretary to the state government, Chidiebere Onyia, said the  instigators of pandemonium were already being tracked down by security agencies with a view to bringing them to book.

“We must not succumb to the evil machinations of those, who have no stake in our state; those who mostly live, work, and educate their children overseas, while destroying the economy of our people and the education and future of our children at home.

“The government hereby reiterates that the ban on sit-at-home in Enugu State stands and will be enforced to the full extent of the law. All offices, markets, business premises, schools, among others, remain open and fully functional.

“Those who want to test the collective resolve and strength of Ndi Enugu will not only be defeated, but will be met with the full wrath of the law,” the statement read. 

Tie back 

HumAngle reports that IPOB, in Aug. 2021, introduced a sit-at-home order every Monday across the southeast to demand the release of its detained leader, Kanu, who is standing trial for alleged terrorism at the Federal High Court, Abuja.

At various times, he referred to Nigeria as “a zoo”, urging his loyalists to take up arms against the state.

When curfew violators are not killed, their businesses are destroyed by members of the IPOB’s Eastern Security Network (ESN) who move around the streets. 

Most times, they have confrontations with either soldiers or the police, often resulting in fatalities.