The order was issued by a Biafran separatist group, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, as part of the insurgency in southeastern Nigeria.

Bishop Callistus Valentine Onaga of Enugu responded, “This part of the world is known for business, this part of the world is known for education and you tell us to sit at home, doing what? What of the parents, who will need to sell their goods in order to train their children, you tell them to sit at home. Is that the way we can progress?”