Governor David Nweze Umahi of Ebonyi State has blamed some persons in the South East for the widespread violence in the region.

9NEWS NIGERIA reports that Umahi made this known while reacting to the sit-at-home order by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

IPOB had declared a weekly shutdown of the South East in protest of the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu, its leader.

But Umahi warned residents against observing the order, threatening to sack any worker who obeys IPOB’s directive.

Umahi said any shop that fails to open on Mondays will lose its right of occupancy.

“I have therefore directed that any civil servant who is absent from work is automatically sacked and those absent in any of our construction sites would also be sacked.”

“Any shop or stall in Ebonyi that does not open for business will lose its right of occupancy and I want this directive to be widely publicised,” he said.

He also asked people in the region to speak against the rising cases of violence.

“No one can wage war in the south-east and our people especially the youths should rise and condemn such acts.”

“There is nothing like unknown gunmen as those killing and the ones being killed are citizens of the zone,” he said.

Umahi said security personnel who have dedicated their lives to protect the people do not deserve to be killed.

“I have directed the security agencies and the Ebubeagu security outfit to be on daily patrol across Ebonyi and flush out all unruly behaviour from the state,” he said.

“The police personnel killed inside the vehicle which plunged into a mining pit is another supreme sacrifice from security agencies.”