Gov. Uzodinma orders banks sealed for obeying IPOB’s sit-at-home order

The governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma has prdered the Owerri Capital Development Authority (OCDA) to seal some banks in Owerri, the state capital, for complying with the sit-at-home order enforced by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

The affected banks are Access Bank, Polaris Bank, First Bank, Ecobank and United Bank for Africa.

OCDA pasted a sign on the entrance of the banks that reads:

‘Sealed! Signed: General Manager; No building approval; removal of this sticker without approval from the office will attract a fine of N500,000’.

According to the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Declan Emelumba, Governor Uzodinma sealed the banks because they frustrated customers by refusing to open for transactions on Monday.

Mr. Emelumba noted that for now it is not known when the banks would be unsealed, adding that it is OCDA to decide.

Imo residents were shocked and stranded Tuesday morning to see their banks without any prior notice or warning.

The closure by banks in the capital city for five consecutive Mondays was in reaction to the sit-at-home declared by IPOB in protest of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who is currently detained by the federal government.

Besides banks, schools, markets, and business outfits in the state were completely shut down on Mondays to avoid attack and destruction of lives and properties as have been witnessed in several other states.

Meanwhile, in another development, IPOB has ordered another sit-at-home in protest to the official visit of President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday.

The group told President Buhari that he is not welcome to the South East while their leader in under lock and key.

The president was supposed tom visit the state to commission some projects completed by the Senator Uzodinma’s administration.