VOTERS in the South-East part of trooped out in large numbers to vote in the Presidential and National Assembly election despite the sit-at-home order by the pro-Biafra separatist agitator Simon Ekpa.
Ekpa recently declared a sit-at-home from February 23 to 28, apparently to stop the conduct of the 2023 general elections in the region.
He said the sit-at-home order would help his faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to achieve a Biafra nation in the South-East and South-South parts of Nigeria.
But despite the order, which is usually enforced with killings by unknown gunmen, residents trooped out to vote.
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Ekpa was recently arrested in Finland, days after the Nigerian government expressed worry over his inciting comments and imposition of a sit-at-home order on residents of Nigeria’s South-East, which could scuttle the elections scheduled on February 25 in the region.
He was reportedly arrested on Thursday, February 23, by plainclothes police officers and later released after interrogation.
An officer from the Central Criminal Police, Tommi Reen, confirmed to the press that the operation was in connection with an ongoing preliminary investigation but did not comment further on the matter.
Earlier on Thursday, Ekpa had released a video calling for a referendum rather than an election in the South-East. He insisted that he was not fighting democracy in Nigeria but autocracy.
This report was produced with the support of Centre For Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) MiNE project.
A reporter with the ICIR
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