IPOB Lawyer Refutes Monday Lockdown Directive, Criticizes Emma Powerful

Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor, a prominent Nigerian human rights lawyer and the lead counsel representing the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has called on the Igbo people to entirely disregard the lockdown order proclaimed by the group's Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful.

Powerful had issued a statement proposing a lockdown of the entire Southeast on Monday, 2 February 2026, to show solidarity with traders in Onitsha Main Market, who had their shops shuttered by Anambra State Governor, Prof. Soludo, due to their persistent adherence to the sit-at-home directive.

This order appears to be an attempt to undermine Governor Soludo, who has insisted that the market remains open every Monday and that all traders must be present in their shops.

However, in what seems to reflect a division within the IPOB leadership, Ejiofor issued a press release urging everyone to dismiss the lockdown directive.

He asserted that IPOB has long rejected all sit-at-home mandates and has no association with the alleged directive.

Ejiofor stated: “Let it be stated clearly, unequivocally, and without ambiguity: this directive is fake—a phantom, a calculated falsehood.

“It is no longer sufficient to merely advise our people to ignore publications from this source (Emma Powerful). The time has come for clarity and firmness.

“Upon careful inquiry and diligent verification, especially considering the delicate and hard-won calm presently returning to our homeland, it became glaringly obvious that the so-called ‘Emma Powerful’ platform has been fatally compromised.

“It has been hijacked by vested interests whose business model thrives on fear, disruption, extortion, and the cynical exploitation of vulnerable communities.

“The peaceful global movement of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has formally and decisively disowned this fabricated publication, categorically distancing itself from the false sit-at-home order and directing Ndi-Igbo to go about their lawful and normal activities without fear.

“Going forward, the message from IPOB is unmistakable: any publication attributed to ‘Emma Powerful’ should be treated with extreme suspicion, if not outright contempt.

“Frankly, one cannot but express astonishment, bordering on disbelief, that at such a critical juncture, when relative peace is cautiously resurfacing in Ala-Igbo, anyone would recklessly circulate information capable of reopening wounds and inviting criminal infiltration.

“History has taught us, at unbearable cost, what happens when fake directives fall into the hands of violent opportunists masquerading as enforcers.

“The platform known as ‘Emma Powerful,’ in its current corrupted state, has positioned itself as an adversary to Ala-Igbo’s peace, progress, and collective well-being,” Ejiofor concluded.