The Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja has ordered troops to take over South Eastern Nigerian areas where separatist groups are enforcing their sit-at-home order.
The order is coming in the wake of a new two-week sit-at-home command issued by Finland-based Simon Ekpa, the self-styled leader of the Biafra Republic Government in Exile (BRGIE).
Ekpa said the order will start on 31 July in demand for the immediate and unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Ekpa warned that failure to comply with the sit-at-home order would attract “heavy consequences."
But Maj. Gen. Lagbaja has ordered the 82 Division of the Army based in Enugu to work with other security agencies to ensure citizens go about their businesses freely, according to the Director of Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu.
