The earlier order from Simon Ekpa in Finland which he reportedly gave demanding some days of stay at home in the South East to press home demand for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s release led to commotion in Nnewi, as vigilantes mistakenly to be suspected EKpa’s gunmen.
There was no sign of pandemonium early Friday morning when all schools, offices, markets, banks were on for business. But a few minutes past 9:00am there was a stamped when people started running helter-skelter shouting that gunmen were sighted around Bank Road.
Many schools shut down abruptly while parents and guardians rushed to schools to pick their children and wards. Even the operatives of Anambra State Road Traffic Management Agency (ATMA) in Nnewi halted and removed their uniforms, hid them out of sight and ran away for safety.
Normalcy only returned when Nnewi vigilance groups on three loaded patrol vans working with the police arrived Nkwo Nnewi Triangle to disclose that it was their members patrolling with motorcycles who residents mistook for gunmen.
Nkwo Nnewi markets gates were said to be open but traders within the markets were operating with fear, a trader said.
