The Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) has declared a total lockdown of Igbo businesses and markets nationwide on October 20, 2025, to demand the release of detained IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu through the #FreeNnamdiKanu protest at the Presidential Villa.
The Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) has announced a total shutdown of markets, motor parks, and business centres across Nigeria on October 20, 2025, to demand the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
In a statement on Friday, the OYC National President, Comrade Igboayaka O. Igboayaka, said the action, part of the #FreeNnamdiKanu protest initiated by activist Omoyele Sowore, has gained widespread support among Igbo traders and professionals.
“We appeal to all Igbos to lock down all shops, business areas, companies, and parks across the 36 states. The total shutdown will showcase our unity before the global community,” the statement read.
The group described the protest as a peaceful show of dissent against “injustice and marginalisation” of the Igbo people. It accused the federal government of double standards in justice administration, contrasting Kanu’s prolonged detention with the treatment of Boko Haram and bandit leaders.
The OYC urged Southeast governors to support Kanu’s release, describing it as the “first step toward national healing.” It also appealed to President Bola Tinubu to handle the protest with compassion, warning that repression would “deepen resentment and threaten Nigeria’s unity.”
READ MORE AT SAHARA REPORTERS.