South East Businessmen and women have lamented the constant closure of businesses in the zone occasioned by the sit at home order by the Indigenous People of Biafara (IPOB) to compel federal government to release their leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
According to some of the businessmen, who spoke to our man, over N25 billion is lost in Onitsha alone each day the sit-at- home order by IPOB is obeyed.
They said that business men and women in the region have been lamenting lost of patronage as their customers now divert their business to Lagos for fear of being attacked by IPOB .
Meanwhile, first republic Minister for Aviation Chief Mbazurike Amaechi has expressed disappointment over what he called the manner in which IPOB members are handling the release of their leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
Amaechi noted that some people appeared to be making money from the case. Amaechi disappointed by the development, threatened that he would pull out of the negotiation for the release of Kanu.
He said that the group has failed to respect the efforts of the Igbo elders in their bid to secure the release of the IPOB leader.
Similarly a group known as Igbo Business Forum has urged IPOB not to use the Biafran struggle to destroy the economy of the South East warning that other zones are benefiting and celebrating the situation in the area.
According to the spokesman of the group Chief Ndubuisi Ehibundu who spoke to reporters in Awka, between Monday and Thursday this week, the zone will lose a total of N100 billion, noting that this development is already collapsing the economy of the zone
“How can someone decide to ruin the economy of his people because of a struggle and come to think of it, they are not more Biafran than us. You tell people to sit at home when you have nothing to manage the effect of hunger in the land and for those of us in the business sector we lose and average of N25 billion in Onitsha alone and I believe we also lose the same sum in Aba, Nnewi and others and this is not good for our economy.
“My colleagues in other zones are celebrating what we lost to them due to sit at home order. What is happening in the South East will spell doom to the zone if allowed to continue. Those that come to the South East to transact business have deserted us and moved to Lagos instead of the normal Onitsha , Aba and Nnewi . We are losing a lot in this sit at home.
We believe that that there are other ways to achieve this struggle besides closing down our shops , factories and offices to our own detriment” he said .
Ehibundu warned that the level of unemployment and crime that the South East will suffer will be grave and those calling for sit at home would not be there to checkmate it.
