Groups associated with the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Biafra secessionist movements in the region have drawn widespread attention due to their ongoing campaigns for a sovereign state. The various violent wings, like the infamous Autopilot, have been able to get millions of people to comply as they enforce an illegal curfew over specific days — especially Mondays and other days dedicated to the trial of IPOB founder Nnamdi Kanu.

They compel the locals across five southeastern Nigerian states to observe a form of protest against Kanu’s treatment by "sitting at home'', often resorting to violence to ensure compliance.

Geographic contexts like proximity to forest hideouts and remoteness of location from major city centres may be contributing to civilians’ adherence to the enforced curfew. Activity data gathered from the average weekly foot traffic on Google Maps’ popular times between September 2023 and February 2024 would suggest so.

Compliance with the sit-at-home would indicate that the prospect of violence is sufficient motivation for locals across the region.

Among the five affected states, there have been more sit-at-home attacks in Imo (23), followed by Enugu (16). Anambra has also seen armed men who were enforcing sit-at-home orders attack civilians at least 11 times, one more than Ebonyi. Although there are some IPOB-related aggressions in Abia, the data showed three were specifically carried out in response to the sit-at-home order.

Businesses, establishments and high-activity areas, including bus stations, filling stations, major markets, malls and local stores, restaurants and recreation areas, have recorded a major decline in visitors on Mondays. The same data shows a significant spike in activities from Tuesdays onward.

The red line in this chart represents the average weekday foot traffic for the entire South East region measured against the average individual Monday foot traffic per state.

There are, however, a few exceptional cases.

The traffic data did not record significant changes in some places, including recreational centres, some tertiary transport hubs in Aba, and other establishments near the local government administrative headquarters towns. This is likely due to factors such as security presence, distance from the bushes, history of IPOB presence, and already low visitation rates.

Business owners and operators have cried out over how the sit-at-home order threatens their livelihoods.

The insurgency in the South East began to gain serious traction in January 2021 when the Nigerian military engaged IPOB’s emerging militant wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), in Orlu, Imo state. The situation continued to snowball and then worsened when the government arrested Kanu later in 2021 after an Interpol operation extradited him over anti-state conspiracies and jumping bail. This inspired his supporters to resort to terror tactics to secure his release. Mondays became a sit-at-home day against socioeconomic events across all five southeastern states.

In their enforcement of the order, the groups’ tactics range from raids on market areas, sporadic firing at businesses and people, burning down establishments, and even employing roadblocks to fire at oncoming targets. They sometimes record these violent acts for online publication before retreating to their bases in the bushes, employing the highly evasive tactics used by terrorists in the North West and jihadi extremists in the North East.

Locals are unable to do business, and the government has been unable to give citizens enough confidence to disregard the curfew instructions. Security forces often face off with the groups when they go on raids and when non-state actors attack them in their police and military posts. This makes the region highly unstable, and Monday activities have become restricted under these circumstances.