Soludo shuts Onitsha main mkt over sit-at-home compliance

For persistently closing the Onitsha main market every Monday, Governor Chukwuma Soludo has closed the market permanently, for one week.

The Onitsha traders have for years continued to comply with the IPOB directive of sit-at-home when Nnamdi Kanu's matter was in court.

The Governor has had running battle with the IPOB people over the shut down of activities in the state, particularly on Mondays, yet the agitating group had their ways against the constitutes authority.

This government had issued a serious warning that all government and public facilities must be open for business every Monday.

However, in a show of superiority, the governor has now ordered for the immediate shutdown of the Market, the largest commercial hub in West Africa.

The closure will last for one week and could be extended to one month. 

The directive, announced on Monday, follows weeks of warnings by the state government to traders, market leaders, and residents to disengage from the sit-at-home order, which officials say has no lawful backing and has continued to cripple economic activities across the state.

"Today, I have ordered the shut down of the Onitsha Main Market for one week due to the protracted economic sabotage cloaked as 'Monday sit-at-home.

"Going forward, this order would apply to any other market in Anambra that shuts down on Monday," the governor warned.

However, authorities warned that if the market fails to fully reopen by next Monday, the closure will be extended to one month, a move that could have far-reaching economic consequences for traders and supply chains across the South-East and beyond.

“This is no longer about fear or compliance under duress. It is about restoring law, order, and economic sanity,” a senior government official said.

While some traders welcomed the government’s firm stance, describing it as long overdue, others expressed fear and uncertainty, citing security concerns and past incidents of violence linked to defiance of sit-at-home orders.

It is left to be seen whether the market would open for business next Monday. 

Meanwhile, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, had in a statement, weekend, countered the governor, stating that the sit-at-home was a legal and peaceful civil protest embarked on by the people to show solidarity with Nnamdi Kanu.