By Charles Igbo
“I can revoke that market, pay compensation to people who have private structures there, and use it for even an annex of Agunechemba Security if I like.”
An angry, and ready-to-fight Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, has threatened to revoke the Main Market Onitsha if the traders in the biggest market in West Africa keep “misbehaving”.
The Governor had, temporarily, he said, closed down the market over the insistence of the traders to shutdown the market every Monday in obedience of the sit-at-home order imposed on the people of the South-east by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB.
IPOB had, in 2021, imposed a weekly Monday sit-at-home order on the people to pressurize the Federal Government into releasing its Leader, Nnamdi Kanu, from detention.
However, that sit-at-home order made no impact on Kanu’s status. If anything, it brought woes, violence, death, blood, poverty, to the people of the South-east.
After months of advice and consultations, IPOB, on the orders of Kanu, decided to let go of the order. But it continued with the now jailed and estranged-from IPOB Simon Ekpa.
While the kanu-led IPOB obeyed him and, at least, restricted the order to only when Kanu was to appear in Court, the Ekpa Group, known as Autopilots, continued with the enforcement of sit-at-home order, stretching it to days, atimes, and succeeded in bringing the economy of the region to its knees.
While in a couple of South-east States the order is no longer as effective as it used to be, it is however, still very effective in Anambra State, especially in the State’s commercial cities of Onitsha and Nnewi. No market. No school. No banking activities.
Penultimate week, Governor Soludo signed an executive order banning the sit-at-home order in the State and threatened to deal with those still observing it. He asked traders to go to market.
However, on Monday, the Governor noticed that in disobedience to his order, the Onitsha Main Market was under lock and key. Traders still stuck to the sit-at-home order. In reaction, Soludo temporarily closed down the market for an initial one week. And on Tuesday when the traders went to the Market, facing them were locked gates, hundreds of security personnel, and more.
Not a few people, including IPOB, some civil society groups and even individuals have condemned the Governor’s action, asking where he got the authority to close down the market and people’s businesses.
But on Wednesday, the Governor, at a Press Conference, gave a comprehensive response where he explained why he closed down the market. He said the every- Monday sit-at-home was a deliberate sabotage against the State and its people. He said it has denied the State of revenue, destroyed the civil service by forcing civil servants to work for only four times a week instead of five times, and schools from being in session for only four days a week, instead of five days. He said very soon, he would make the names of those sponsoring the illegal order public.
He insisted on the temporary closure of the Onitsha Main Market, and threatened to revoke the market and allocate the sprawling area to the State Security outfit, Agunechemba.
Soludo: “This 2026 is for fighting sit at home. It is either they open their shops or we revoke their ownership.
“If it gets to this point, we will ask them to come and show us their documents of ownership of the shops and I will personally scrutinize it myself. Most of those documents, we know how they came about.
“For those shouting ‘show me the law where you can close our shops’, I want to say that they should be ready when I show them the law that empowers me to revoke that market and use it for whatever is better for the State. I can revoke that market, pay compensation to people who have private structures there and use it for even an annex of Agunechemba Security if I like.”
The Governor also disclosed that in the next two weeks he will start a recertification. A lot of people want shops in that market, so if you are not ready to open shops, go elsewhere. We will revoke your shops and give it to people who are willing to open.”
Following is, in part, what a defiant Soludo at a Press Conference.
“I want to say that the Monday sit at home is deliberate economic sabotage and would not be allowed to continue. Throughout the yuletide the market was open from Monday down to Saturday and in most cases opened on Sundays too.
“For people who say the Monday decision is because of insecurity, why were there no incidences when traders opened all through the week? Now that normal businesses have commenced, they have started their Monday sabotage. They go for meetings on Monday, go to the stadium to exercise and they do not fear insecurity.
“Why is their target Nnewi and Onitsha? The majority of those doing it are not from Anambra. As I drove to Onitsha on Monday, all markets were open. In most cases there was street trading and it was even difficult for us to meander our way. Other markets were open and I drove through Ochanja, but the major target is Onitsha Main Market. When we got there, it was not open. We think this is deliberate and it has to end.
“I visited Kanu and he was unhappy about it. I confronted him with the question (sit at home order) and he told me it was wrong. We later met with the stakeholders, constituted the Justice Peace Committee which was headed by Prof. Chidi Odinkalu and they have submitted their report and we have been implementing it.
“We also discovered that the people outside are the ones fueling it and we have held town hall meetings to tell them they are killing the homeland. You cannot distort the growth of people and education, the same people you said you are fighting for.
“We announced amnesty programme and 15,400 youths came out and we have rehabilitated them. We are working to give young people a life and other people are there working to give them pain.
“The rest of the world cannot adjust to our own calendar, we cannot operate a four-day economy and hope to compete with people operating six days of the week. So we must stop. This is not because of fear of insecurity because we have over 150 security personnel working in the main market only.
“The cost is much and not as a result of loss in taxes because Onitsha generates pittance. I’m talking about the larger economy, which is more on the traders themselves. Monday is the most important day of the week and if we continue, our economy will continue to come down. We can’t train our children in a school system that runs four days a week.
“I’m concerned because you gave me the mandate to be your Chief Servant. If not, what do I lose? I can as well shutdown and use my Mondays to sleep too.
“Some politicians are involved and they think it’s politics. It is not about politics, it is about security, the interest and future of our state. It is about our prosperity, it is about our security, it is about the poor people who must go out before they can feed.
“For now, we will not name the politicians who are sponsoring them. At least for now, but very soon we will name them. They are doing this because they think they can score political points by sponsoring this.
“This economic sabotage must not continue. In 2022 and 2023 we were busy strategizing on how we would deal with the insecurity in our land. In 2024 and 2025, we used it to launch onslaught on criminals, and today I can say that Anambra is the safest state. Even if our enemies do not agree, they will count us among the safest states in Nigeria. This 2026 is for fighting sit at home. It is either they open their shops or we revoke their ownership.
“If it gets to this point, we will ask them to come and show us their documents of ownership of the shops, and I will personally scrutinize it myself. Most of those documents, we know how they came about.
“For those shouting ‘show me the law where you can close our shops’, I want to say that they should be ready when I show it to them. I will also show them the law that empowers me to revoke that market and use it for whatever is better for the state. I can revoke that market, pay compensation to people who have private structures there and use it for even an annex of Agunechemba Security if I like.
“I hope that push will not come to shove, but in the next two weeks, we will start recertification. A lot of people want shops in that market, so if you are not ready to open shops, go elsewhere. We will revoke your shops and give it to people who are willing to open.”
For the records, Soludo has threatened to close 12 other markets. And yes, Kanu, by the way, has been jailed for life by a Federal High Court, Abuja Division, and is serving his time in Sokoto.
