Imo shut down as residents comply with sit-at-home order

Imo map

Business, education, and government activities were shut down in Owerri, the Imo State capital, as residents stayed indoors in compliance with a sit-at-home directive.

This is despite the Imo State Police Command’s call for residents to disregard the directive and go about their normal business activities.

The proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra has, for years, directed residents to stay indoors on May 30 to honour fallen Biafra heroes and this year was no exception.

On Friday, the city remained deserted despite the heavy security presence across the state.

A visit to the usually busy Wetheral, Douglas, and Tetlow roads, considered the commercial hubs of the state, showed total emptiness, as people stayed indoors.

Not a single school or bank was in operation and even street touts were nowhere to be found.

Traders, who pleaded anonymity, said they stayed away to avoid any form of attack on their business premises under any guise.

Not even a single commercial bus was sighted on the road, as people, including civil servants, stayed away.

Meanwhile, there was a heavy presence of security operatives across the state in response to any potential threat.

The Police Public Relations Officer for Imo State, Henry Okoye, on Friday morning, warned against any individual or group planning to breach the peace.

Okoye said security operatives drawn from the Army, Air Force, Police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, Department of State Services, Federal Road Safety Corps, Immigration Service, and Federal Fire Service were all stationed across the state to prevent any breach and ensure the safety of lives and property. Punch