The usual business activities at the Shoprite shopping mall Owerri, Imo State, were from the early hours of Saturday halted following the sporadic shootings by security personnel in the area.
This came with the beef up of security in Imo over fears resulting from a sit-at-home order by the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), led by Nnamdi Kanu.
Tribune Online gathered that the Owerri mall suddenly halted activities at about 12.30 pm as against the normal 8.00 pm with heavy security presence at the entrance to the mall.
IPOB had earlier issued a release directing South-East residents to sit-at-home in memory of what it described as Biafra Remembrance Day on May 30.
A staff of the mall who pleaded anonymity said that normal activities began in the mall on Saturday morning but were suddenly brought to a halt following sounds of gunshots in the neighbourhood.
He added that this led to palpable fear, a situation that prompted the management of the mall to shut down the building, leaving customers stranded.
He said: “We all came to work in the morning. For hours, we have been hearing gunshots, there is fear all around and no customers have come in since that time.”
He added that “the management has directed that we close for today even though it’s barely half-day insisting that we cannot leave the premises until the situation improves”.
Tribune Online learnt that the barricading of the entrance to the mall by security operatives also halted vehicular movement along the Owerri-Umuahia Road, where the mall is located, leaving road users stranded.
A motorist who plies the road, Mr Rafael Ubochioms, said that he was confused because he had just bought fuel from a nearby filling station with part of the fare he collected from passengers and the road had been barricaded
A passenger, identified simply as Mrs Stella, regretted embarking on the journey and urged security operatives “not to make it appear that innocent road users are being punished for the activities of bandits”.
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