By Ojonugwa Ugboja
BBC Africa closely followed the event as many people in south-eastern Nigeria stayed at home on Tuesday to mark Biafra Day.
According to BBC (http://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-africa-39261743?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=592d67c9e4b0ee8ae9ea0a2d%26Strong+support+for+Biafra+protest%26&ns_fee=0&ocid=socialflow_twitter#post_592d67c9e4b0ee8ae9ea0a2d) Schools and buses were shut in many areas – including Enugu, which was at the epicentre of the failed campaign to create the breakaway state.
The BBC’s Abdussalam Ibrahim Ahmed spoke to several of the city’s residents about the stayaway:
“The people willingly decided to sit at home to show respect for the people who died during the war. They are mourning them.” – Amuche Regis
“Biafra is a movement which cannot be killed by any government. Biafra has come to stay, whether you like it or not. People who are agitating now were not born during the war. Their fathers told them what happened. They lost their grandparents” – Chukwuma Okereigwe
“Today’s sit at home has spoken volumes of the annoyance of the youth with the federal government. It shows people are no longer happy. Something must be done to get the whole thing settled before it get out of hand.” – Jones Udeh
“Nigerians should sit down and look at our relationship for a union to find out how to make it work. Right now, it is not working.” – Febian Oguazor
BBC also reported that In Umuahia, the capital of south-eastern Abia state and hometown of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu, some shops are open but others are shut.
There are no reports of violence so far but police and civil defence corps have been stationed at strategic places.