In southeast Nigeria, 700 people are killed as a result of separatists’ sit-at-home rallies, according to a report

Over 700 people have died in the southeast of Nigeria as a result of the banned separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra’s sit-at-home order over the last four years, according to a new report from an intelligence company.

The IPOB, which advocates for the secession of the Igbo-majority southeast, has been classified as a terrorist organization by Nigerian authorities.

According to SBM Intelligence, the deaths were caused by battles between Nigerian security forces and IPOB, as well as by the murder of citizens who disobeyed the weekly stay-at-home order on Mondays and other designated days.

“IPOB’s enforcement tactics, including arson, looting and targeted assassinations, have created a climate of fear,” according to the SBM research.

“While there was a high rate of compliance with sit-at-home orders in 2021 (82.61%), surveys reveal that actual support is much lower (29%) now, with many complying under duress.”

A representative for IPOB disputed that the deaths were caused by the group.

“Those causing the killings are the kidnappers and criminals recruited by government to blackmail and demonize IPOB,” the spokesperson stated.

A request for response from the government was not answered.

In order to gain leverage and demand the release of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who is being tried for terrorism in the capital Abuja, IPOB organized a sit-at-home demonstration in August 2021 in five states in southeast Nigeria.

Citing a “direct order” from Kanu, who has been detained since 2021, the organization halted the weekly protest a few days later and only resumed it on the days the IPOB leader would be appearing in court.

However, sections within IPOB and other armed groups claiming allegiance to the group have continued to enforce the weekly demonstration by attacking government buildings and people they believe to be pro-government.

Police have accused IPOB of being involved in a number of crimes, including the murder of more than 30 travelers earlier this month and an attack on a prison in 2021, despite the group’s efforts to distance itself from the violence in the area.

Those two attacks were not attributed to the IPOB.

The sit-at-home order, which halts economic activity in the southeast every Monday and on days when Kanu is in court, has caused economic losses exceeding 7.6 trillion naira ($4.79 billion), according to the SBM report, in addition to the deaths.

In the late 1960s, a civil war broke out in the restive Biafra region, killing over a million people.