Tension in Enugu As IPOB Attempts to Enforce Sit-at-Home Order

There was palpable tension in Enugu State capital on Monday morning following a stampede at Old Park, Okpara Avenue axis of the state.

Although the cause of the stampede was yet to be established, people were said to be running helter-skelter following a report that some members of the Indigenous People of Biafra came to enforce the earlier suspended Monday sit-at-home at commercial areas of the state.

Sources told The Punch that many motorists and traders at the Ogbete Main Market were seriously injured following the stampede, which they said erupted at Old Park around 9:00 am while several vehicles were damaged as a result of the log jam the incident created.

A senior police officer who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity said that security had been beefed up around the Enugu maximum correctional centre located at Old Park axis to ensure that there was no attack on the facility.

He said, “Our men have been deployed to strategic locations around the Maximum Correctional Centre at the Old Park and other government institutions within the state capital.

“This morning we received a report of stampede around Old Park, Okpara Avenue, Ogbete Main Market and Coal Camp areas that members of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra were enforcing Monday sit-at-home order which had earlier been suspended by the same group around September 2021.

“But it turned out that it was a rumour because we have not seen anything yet to suggest such. However, as I said, our operatives have been deployed to strategic locations to forestall any breakdown of law and order in the state.”

The State Police Public Relations Officer, Daniel Ndukwe, could not be reached when contacted as his phone was said to be switched off.

The Punch