EVERY MONDAY SIT AT HOME ORDER WILL IMPOVERISH SOUTH EAST —ARCHBISHOP CHUKWUMA TELLS IPOB
Reporter: CHRISTIAN NWANGENE
The Archbishop of Enugu Ecclesiastical Province and Bishop of Enugu Diocese, (Anglican Communion), the Most Revered Emmanuel Chukwuma, says another lockdown will further impoverish the business community of the South-East.
Archbishop Chukwuma made the observation while speaking with journalists in Enugu on the proposed plan by members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) to ensure that people of the South-East, observed lockdown every Monday.
The total lockdown every Monday, which is tagged: “Ghost Monday” by the group has been scheduled to continue until their leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, is released from custody.
”I personally call on all IPOB members to have a rethink on the proposed lockdown, since it will further impoverish the people, who are mostly traders, and create more hunger in the land,” Archbishop Chukwuma said.
The Anglican Archbishop added that presently, businesses throughout the South-East were dull and people just struggled each day to make a living.
“The move will be unfair to us, Ndigbo, who are engaged in various businesses. If carried out, it is wrong. Since, when you are locking up your zone or region, other zones will be engaging in their businesses and daily human activities meant for their growth and progress.
“It is a way of destroying the economy of our brothers. We must be very careful in the way we are going about it.
“I also do not totally support it as many of our traders are in trouble already, due to the COVID-19 lockdown and what they lost.
“So, locking down the entire place every Monday from 6am to 6pm should be reviewed. They should do a proper introspect and rethink about it,’’ he said.
The Archbishop stated that the people should think of how to help those whose businesses were going down rather than inflict more hardship on the generality of the people.
In the words of the Archbishop: “We should find a better way of improving the economy and checking lack and hunger in the land.”
Archbishop Chukwuma called on Ndigbo and IPOB to pray more than locking down the entire zone each Monday.
“Our people should be considerate to all, especially the downtrodden that must go out of their homes before they feed for the day,” the high priest pointed out.
Archbishop Chukwuma, however, advocated the need for dialogue in addressing some of the secessionists agitations instead of the use of force by the government.
He appealed to the governments in the region to rise to the occasion and ensure that lives and property of citizens were protected.