Traders at the Onitsha Main Market, Anambra State, on Tuesday staged a protest against the one-week closure of the market ordered by Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo. The traders marched through major streets in Onitsha, demanding the immediate reopening of the commercial hub.
Videos circulating on social media platforms showed angry traders trooping to the market with placards, chanting solidarity songs.
In several clips, protesters were heard chanting slogans such as "Soludo, we no go gree o" and "Say no to Monday," in apparent rejection of the state government's opposition to the recurring sit-at-home observed across the South-East.
Meanwhile, security agencies barricaded the Onitsha Main Market early on Tuesday to enforce the closure.
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Hundreds of security personnel were deployed to the area, with armoured personnel carriers and Hilux patrol vans blocking major access routes into the market to prevent trading activities.
The protest followed an unscheduled visit by the governor to the market after traders defied the state government's directive to resume full commercial activities on Mondays as part of efforts to end the long-running sit-at-home in the state.
On Monday, Soludo ordered the market shut, accusing traders of deliberately ignoring government directives and undermining moves to restore normal economic life.
During the visit, the governor said the sit-at-home order had no legal backing and was crippling businesses and livelihoods in Anambra.
He warned that the closure could be extended to one month if traders continued to observe the illegal directive, often enforced by a faction of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The market closure forms part of broader measures introduced by the Soludo administration to halt the Monday sit-at-home across the state.
Earlier, the government warned civil servants against staying away from work on Mondays, with threats of salary deductions for defaulters.
The Commissioner for Information, Law Mefor, said absenteeism would attract disciplinary measures, stressing that the sit-at-home order was not recognised by law.
Despite the government's stance, protesting traders insisted the closure was unfair and appealed to the governor to reopen the market, citing the hardship caused by the decision.
Human rights group condemns market closure
Meanwhile, the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) condemned the closure, describing it as punitive and a violation of traders' fundamental rights.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, the group's spokesperson, Jerry Onyibe, said the action was arbitrary and infringed on citizens' economic freedom.
He warned that shutting the market would worsen hardship and deepen poverty in a state regarded as a major commercial hub in the South-east.
'We lose N8bn weekly'
Defending the action, the Anambra State Government said the market would remain closed for at least one week as punishment for non-compliance.
In a statement, Mefor claimed the state loses about N8 billion weekly to the sit-at-home, as part of an estimated N19.6 billion loss across the South-east.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) introduced a weekly sit-at-home order across the South-east in August 2021 to pressure the Federal Government to release its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who was facing terrorism charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja. The group later suspended the directive, limiting it to days Mr Kanu appeared in court.
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Despite the suspension, residents of Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia and Anambra states continued to observe the order, largely out of fear. IPOB repeatedly disowned the Monday sit-at-home, insisting that those enforcing it were criminals seeking to blackmail the group.
However, Simon Ekpa, a controversial Biafra agitator based in Finland, continued to issue sit-at-home directives. In July 2023, Mr Kanu, through his lawyer Aloy Ejimakor, ordered Ekpa to stop, but Ekpa dismissed the instruction as fake.
Efforts by Igbo leaders, including Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah and Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo, failed to end the action. While the sit-at-home has largely ceased in Enugu, Abia and Ebonyi, it persists in Anambra and Imo states.
Kanu was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for terrorism in November and Mr Ekpa was sentenced to six years imprisonment for similar crime in Finland.
