* Assures business owners of adequate security
Enugu State governor Dr Peter Mbah, on Monday, toured various parts of the State capital to monitor compliance with the ban on the illegal sit-at-home declared by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The turnout of traders, sellers and buyers alike were very impressive, the governor said.
Spar Mall, Roban Stores at Bisalla Road, Market Square, Shoprite, Zenith Bank at Ogui Road, Celebrities, Ogbete Market, Garki Awkunanaw Market, Mayor Market, Abakpa Market, and the State Secretariat, were parts of the areas the governor toured.
He warned traders fond of sitting at home on to desit, or risk losing their shops to serious-minded businessmen and women.
He said adequate security has been provided, observing that there has not been any incident of attack since the ban on sit-at-home in June.
Mbah, who took time to interact with business owners, shoppers, traders as well as civil servants at the State Secretariat, said: “It should never be heard that we were cowed because of the threat of violence by these criminals,” noting that “the poverty that will befall us for sitting at home will kill us even faster”.
“We are losing over N10bn every Monday that we sit at home. Enough is enough. This foolishness must end and it must end now. We cannot be marginalizing ourselves and still complain of marginalization.
“So, we must say no to sit-at-home because what it means is that we are destroying our employment, our economy, and our GDP. We must erase it from our memories. We should see it as our shameful past, which we do not want to remember. We must put it behind us and forge ahead, ensuring that we work every working day of the week,” he urged Enugu residents.
To the traders at Ogbete, Garki, and other markets, he warned that locking shops on Mondays would no longer be condoned.
“But you know, there are also consequences for not heeding our orders. Going forward, I want to put you on notice. I will go around the state again on Monday next week. We are going to come with the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority to put a seal on any shop that is found locked on Monday because of the illegal sit-at-home. We will take it that you are not ready to do business.
“We are going to revoke your license to operate. We will revoke your shop title and reallocate it to someone else, who is ready to do business. This is something we must enforce with effect from Monday next week”, he warned.
Meanwhile, the market leaders and business owners assured the governor that they are now ready for full compliance, saying they are sick and tired of the Monday sit-at home.
At the meeting with the Ogbete Market traders, the President of Enugu State Amalgamated Traders Association, Comrade Stephen Aniagu, assured the governor that they have already agreed to commence full business, saying all shops would be open from next Monday.
The leader of Abakpa Nike Market, Bernard Anike, also assured the governor that they have since started complying with the ban of sit-at-home